


Blind Luck

by SpiritLily



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock (TV) RPF, Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Illnesses, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-02-07 06:23:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 41,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1888308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritLily/pseuds/SpiritLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gemma was blinded by the cancer treatments she needed to beat the disease.  Now two years later, she's cancer free and moves to London where the surgery she needs to get her sight back is the only place it's being done.  She moves to London with her cousin, Alicia, and moves into the ground floor flat of a house whose owner they are told is an intensely private person and not to disturb him.  Their first day there they meet the owner, who is none other than Benedict Cumberbatch.  This is their story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Beginning

A/N: Just a quick note about the timeline of this story. It starts with when Benedict was just about done filming Star Trek. I won’t be following the timeline for other movies he was filming after that. Also this story mentions cancer and treatments that might be triggering for some people. This story is mainly fluffy with a healthy dose of smut. Hope you like it. Reviews and kudos are loved.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The alarm went off at 5 a.m. and Gemma turned over and slapped it off. She lay on her back for a few moments to allow herself to fully wake. She lay thinking about what was ahead of her. Part of her was excited and part of her was apprehensive. This was a big day for her. She was moving to London, England today. She thought about what had brought her to this point in her life. It was her decision to take this step to help herself.

There was a knock at the door and Alicia, her cousin, opened the door and stepped in, “Gemma? Time to get up.”

Gemma sat up and moved to sit at the edge of the bed, stretching. She looked to the grey shadow that she knew was her cousin.

“Okay”, she sighed, “I don’t know whether to be excited or not.”

“You’ll be better off this way, we discussed this at length.”

“Yes, you’re right of course. It’s just that now that I am actually doing this I’m a little scared.”

“You’ll be fine. Remember I am going with you.”

Gemma smiled and said, “Of course, I couldn’t do this on my own.”

“Well let’s get you ready to go, hmmm?”

Gemma nodded, stood, and reached to where she knew Alicia would be. Her cousin took hold of her hand and guided her to the washroom, helping her to wash and dress. Then Gemma sat on a chair in the bedroom while Alicia braided her damp, hair. They had decided to go with this hairstyle because it was a very long flight, and it would be easier for her to deal with her waist length hair. Alicia pulled out Gemma’s suitcase and packed her few things she had needed for the night. Then she turned and said, “I’ll just take the suitcases to the living room.”

“Alright”, said Gemma. She turned, felt along the vanity table till her hand touched her sunglasses, and picking them up, she put them on. Gemma was blind, but not completely. She could see in shades of grey, and people were shadows. She couldn’t see people’s faces, only the outline or shadow. 

Gemma had strawberry blond hair, and ivory skin. She was most certainly beautiful. She was slim and well toned thanks to Alicia’s help at the fitness center she went to. She garnered many interested looks from plenty of men (and women). She didn’t see the looks, but Alicia did. She was really proud of Gemma’s inner strength, and secretly admired her for it.

Alicia moved about getting the suitcases to the door, and quickly checking that she had their tickets, passports, and other paperwork. Then she moved back to Gemma’s room and helped her to the living room.

The taxi they had booked pulled up outside a few moments later. The driver came to the door and took their suitcases while Alicia locked the door to her house, and guided Gemma to the taxi. Once they were settled and on their way to the airport, Gemma breathed a sigh.

“You okay?”

“Yeah I’m alright. Just a little nervous.”

“Hey we’ll be fine. Think of it as an adventure.”

Gemma smiled and laughed with her cousin. She always had a way of helping her feel happy. They smiled for the rest of the ride to the airport.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Once the plane had landed, and they disembarked, and found their luggage, they went in search of a taxi. It took no time at all for them to find one, and getting in Alicia gave the cabbie the address of the flat they had managed to rent in Hampstead. The flat was truly a find for Alicia. She had engaged the services of a realtor in London to help them find a flat they could rent for the year. The flat they ended up renting was just off the Heath, and was in a house. The realtor knew the owner of the house was intending on converting it back to a private house again. The owner had told the realtor that because of his commitments he would not have the time to oversee the conversion for at least the next year, and so Gemma and Alicia would be living in the main floor flat for the next year.

They pulled up to the house and Alicia was astonished at how nice the house was. She could just see that the rooftop had been converted already to a small garden. How lovely. She wondered if the owner would allow them to sit up there. She turned to Gemma and said, “It’s beautiful, cuz. I think we’ll like this very much.”

They paid the cabbie and had him bring the bags to the door of the house. They had arranged to meet the realtor there, and get the keys and any last minute instructions. Alicia knocked and the door opened almost immediately. There stood a tall, middle aged woman with graying hair, and an expensive looking dress.

They both nodded. Then Alicia said, “Mrs. Woods? It’s lovely to meet you. I am Alicia Shaw and this is my cousin, Gemma Grant.”

She smiled, “Nice to meet you both.”

They shook hands, and were shown into the flat. Their bags left inside the flat door. Alicia looked it over with approval. It was all hardwood floors, and had been furnished sparingly with no rugs. Nothing that Gemma could trip over, or run into. Mrs. Woods had informed them that she had made sure there was food in the flat for them. They both thanked her profusely for doing that, and the realtor left them to their new home. She had told them that the owner of the house was in the U.S. for awhile. They also found out from her that the owner was living on the other two floors of the house, that he was an immensely private person and to not bother him when he was around. She had given them very minimal details about the owner himself, probably some businessman they decided.

Gemma was yawning and looked tired, about as tired as Alicia felt. She guided her cousin to the couch in the living room while she took their suitcases to the bedrooms. Alicia was happy that they just had to unpack their clothes. She quickly rescued Gemma from the couch and guided her to the bigger bedroom. She took the smaller one farther down the hall. Gemma’s bedroom had an ensuite bathroom that would work better for her. She quickly gave Gemma a tour of her bedroom and ensuite so that she knew roughly how many steps to the doors, and basically where everything was.

It would be about 6 p.m. in Canada where they had flown from and it was about 1 a.m. now in London. They were exhausted and knew it would probably take a few days to adjust to the time difference. They said their goodnights, changed into pajamas, and crawled into bed.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma awoke in the late morning and sat there listening to the sounds of London and smiled. She was happy she was here and that Alicia could make this trip with her. She decided to get up and learn her new home. Alicia would probably sleep late. Gemma got up and proceeded to move around first her bedroom and bathroom, making use of it while in there, and then the rest of the flat. She would need Alicia to help her with some things, like what groceries they had, and where some things were located, but she had learned her way around their flat while her cousin slept.

“You should be careful” came from behind her making her jump. Of course Alicia would wake when she was moving around the flat.

“I was just learning the flat. Nothing to worry about.”

“I know”, she sighed, “I just can’t help worrying about you.”

“I’m glad you’re here though. I am dying to know what it looks like. Can you describe it for me?”

So Alicia took Gemma through the flat describing each room and the things in it, including Alicia’s own room. After that they showered and dressed, and Alicia made them what she called “brunch”. They talked of the upcoming appointments for Gemma. They decided to go out and get a taxi and see where the offices were they’d be going to for the next while. Then Gemma declared she was tired and was taken back to the flat and put to bed. Alicia told her she was going to explore their neighbourhood and see what there was within walking distance. She spent the whole afternoon exploring while Gemma slept.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma woke to the sound of a buzzer. She reached for her nightstand and then realized it wasn’t an alarm clock, but the buzzer at the flat door. She got up, found her sunglasses and put them, and moved through the flat to open the door.

“Did you forget your key deary?” she said, assuming that Alicia had forgotten her key and had buzzed.

“No, I knew you and your cousin would be here today and thought I’d come and introduce myself”, came a deep baritone.

Gemma shrunk back a little from the door, feeling vulnerable. It was foolish of her to open the door without knowing whether it was Alicia or not.

“Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else”, she swallowed, feeling nervous. She could only see that the shadow was tall and slim.

“It’s quite alright, but I am curious….when you opened the door you didn’t see that I was here and not whomever it was you thought it would be.”

Gemma was getting more nervous. Should she tell this guy she was blind, or would that be foolish of her to do. “So who exactly are you then?”

“My name is Benedict Cumberbatch”, came the voice, sounding perplexed.

“Hello, my name is Gemma Grant” she reached out to shake his hand, not being able to see that he had his hand out already to shake hers. She didn’t know either that she completely missed his hand. He slowly moved his hand and took hers to shake it. He was frowning, looking over this beautiful young woman more closely. He thought it odd that she wore sunglasses inside. She clearly had just been woken up judging by the wrinkled state of her clothes, and her matted, light red hair.

“Hello Gemma”, he said, in that smooth baritone, “I am the owner of this house.”

“Oh”, Gemma relaxed when she heard this. His voice had a cultured tone to it. She decided to throw caution to the wind and trust this guy. “Would you like to come in?”

“Thank you”, he said as she stepped back and let him in the door and closed it.

He watched as she walked slowly and carefully to the living room, one hand held out with fingertips lightly skimming one wall. By the time they were seated on the couch he knew that this young lady was blind. The realtor hadn’t told him that, only that there were two ladies who required a ground floor flat, minimally furnished. He was rather mystified that the price he requested didn’t seem to faze the realtor’s clients at all. He wondered if the other woman was somewhere else in the flat. He looked around from where he was seated, but didn’t see or hear anyone else. Perhaps the other one was out.

“So Mrs. Woods didn’t really give me a lot of information about you or your companion.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Well, I guess first of all why you’re staying for such an extended period of time?”

“Well that’s a long story.”

“I have time if you don’t mind telling it.”

“Alright, I’ll start at the beginning”, she paused for a moment collecting her thoughts. “I started modelling when I was 17. I got a very lucrative contract with Victoria’s Secret to model for them, and did that for several years. I decided when I turned 25 to try writing a novel. I knew that my modelling career wouldn’t last much longer, maybe another 5 years. So I decided to start a second career. I had always wanted to try my hand at writing, so I wrote a novel and sent it to a publishing company. They loved it and published it. It was a huge success. They asked me to write more, and so I did. Every novel I have written has been a huge success.” She smiled to herself at the memory.

“About two years ago, it was discovered that I had cancer. It was treatable, and I went through surgery and chemotherapy. I got rid of it completely, but there was an unforeseen problem. The chemotherapy damaged my vision. I had heard about a radical surgery that was being done here in London that had helped others with vision problems regain their sight. I had to wait another year to make certain that the cancer would not come back. Then I had to go through the lengthy process of applying to the British government for a visa to come and live here for the length of time it would take to go through the surgery and the required checkups, and I had to supply proof that I could afford to live here for that length of time. I also have to have regular checkups with an oncologist here to make sure the cancer stays in remission. I am here with my cousin, Alicia, who has been so supportive. She can only stay for a few months before she’ll have to go back to Canada. Her job won’t allow her to be gone for too long. By then I should have had the surgery and hopefully regained my vision, and just be getting the regular checkups” she finished.

Benedict was silent for a moment, then said, “Wow, that’s some story. You have really overcome a great deal. So did the treatments take your vision completely?”

“No”, she replied, “I can see shadows, so people are just grey outlines.”

“Can you see any color?”

“None, it’s all shades of grey.”

“I assume you don’t write books right now.”

“Actually I do. I just record myself and Alicia puts it into printed word and sends it to my publisher. I pay her for doing that.”

“Your cousin is certainly very helpful.”

“Yes I couldn’t do much without her. She even found someone to teach me how to read braille. She was the one who also suggested having my books published in braille as well. The publisher agreed to try a limited run of my first novel and it was such a huge success that all my books limited runs in braille. Of course, I get one of the braille and one printed version for Alicia and I.”

“That’s amazing. I know there’s getting to be more material available in braille, but it’s great that you and your cousin spear headed such a terrific idea. Do the braille books get sold all over the world?”

“Yes they do. They always sell out.”

“Well I’m glad that you’re able to continue writing your books.”

Gemma really liked the sound of his voice. It was like chocolate and warm silk. She wondered briefly what he would sound like whispering naughty things in her ear. She shivered slightly at that thought.

“Are you cold? I could get you some tea or a blanket.”

“No”, she blushed, “I’m fine. Just a stray thought” she smiled.

He chuckled lightly, gaining a smile from Gemma.

“Well how about I make us tea anyways.”

“Oh tea would be lovely” she sighed. Then blushed, “Listen to me. Here I am asking my guest to make tea. I should be doing that.”

“It’s quite all right. I don’t mind making it. You could come and keep me company while I make it though.”

“Ok” she said holding out her hand to be guided without thinking. She felt long slender fingers enclose her hand and the other hand touch her elbow. She felt a delicious shiver run through her arm.

Benedict guided her effortlessly to the kitchen where they continued to talk while he looked through cupboards for tea things. Gemma found out that he had agreed to furnish the flat, but the bedding, towels, groceries, and various other sundries had been bought and placed in the flat by Mrs. Woods. He informed her that the realtor’s fee would have covered that expense. She decided that she would talk to Alicia later about sending a thank you to Mrs. Woods for doing such a lovely thing.

“So Benedict what do you do?” she asked over tea.

“I work in theatre, radio, television, and movies.”

“Oh, are you a producer or director?”

He chuckled, “No I’m an actor.”

“Oh” she wasn’t sure what else to say.

Benedict continued, “I have started a small company with some friends. We hope to make full length movies eventually. Right now we’re doing some shorts.”

“Oh how exciting. I always think it’s so much fun when you start something from scratch and build it up to what you want it to be.”

“Yes we are quite enjoying it.”

“So what are you doing right now?”

“I’m just about done filming a Star Trek movie.”

“Oh I love those movies” Gemma exclaimed, “what part are you playing?”

“I’m afraid I can’t divulge that. I had to agree to keep silent on my character and what the movie is about.”

“Oh. So when is that going to be out?”

“It will probably be late next year.”

“Mmmm, by then I will probably be back in Canada. I’ll have to watch for it.”

Benedict could see that Gemma was getting tired, and knowing what jetlag was like, decided he’d bothered her enough for one day. He cleared away the tea things, refusing Gemma’s help and took his leave.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When Alicia arrived at the flat, she found her cousin sleeping. Still, she assumed. She shrugged deciding that she must be really tired, and went into the kitchen to make dinner. She noticed the dirty tea things that were enough for two and wondered what Gemma had been up to.


	2. Friends

Alicia arrived back at the flat in time to meet the courier who had brought the boxes she had shipped for her and Gemma. They had made a careful list of the things they wanted to have with them for the next year. She signed for the boxes and carried them into the flat, taking them to the storage room. She opened each box checking that the contents weren’t damaged. Then decided to grab their Cd’s and put them on the shelf by the Cd player that the owner -Benedict - had so thoughtfully supplied.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma woke to the delicious smells of dinner. She got up, showered, dressed in fresh clothes, and walked out to the kitchen.

“Hey girl. That smells really good.”

“Thank you” she paused, “You were still sleeping when I came back, but there was some tea things in the sink…”

“Oh yes. The owner of the house stopped by. He wanted to meet us. He’s so lovely, and he has a wonderful voice, and he’s so sweet…..”

“Ok slow down girl. He must have really been something. I haven’t seen you this excited about a guy in a long time. Who is he?”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about. He says he’s an actor, so I am wondering if you’ve ever heard of him.”

“Okay. What’s his name?”

“Benedict Cumberbatch.”

Alicia squealed, “Oh my god. Are you kidding? Benedict Cumberbatch? You had tea with the Benedict Cumberbatch?”

Gemma smiled, “I assume you know his name”, she said, wryly.

“He’s only the most talented actor in the world. He’s so gorgeous too, and his voice, mmmmm.”

“Yes he definitely has a lovely voice. He’s really sweet. I liked him.”

“Are you attracted to him?”

“I only know I like him.”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that he’s single.”

“What? No girlfriends, live-ins….?”

“Nope, none.”

“Wow, I wonder why he’s still single?”

“He works lots. I mean in the past year he’s worked on at least 4 or 5 movies and shorts.”

“Well I suppose if you don’t have anyone to go home to there’s no point in going there, and he must work with lots of beautiful actresses. I guess I should stop hoping he might notice me.”

Alicia walked over to Gemma and put her hands on her shoulders and said firmly, ”Now listen to me dear. You are a beautiful woman, you’re intelligent, and you have a lovely personality.”

“I know what I looked like before I lost my sight”, she said wryly, “It’s just that I can’t see him wanting to saddle himself with a blind woman. I mean there’s no guarantee that this surgery will work.”

“Look honey. I know what they’ve told us about the surgery. We can’t think about that until we know how that comes out. But I can tell you nobody would be ’saddling’ themselves with you. You write books, and you have plenty of money from your modelling. You need to stop thinking of yourself as a liability. Any man would be lucky to have your love.”

Gemma smiled wryly, “Ok pep talk taken to heart.”

“No joking. Please tell me you really don’t think that way.”

“I guess I was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that’s happened.”

“Alright”, she sighed, “I should get back to making dinner. I’m making your favourite - Steak Diane.”

“I know”, she smiled. “I’ll go set the table.”

“Alright.”

Gemma left to set the table. She thought about what her cousin had said. She knew she was right, but still felt a little uncertainty that left her heart heavy. She moved around the dining room, carefully placing the settings. There was a knock at the door. She knew that Alicia wouldn’t hear it from the kitchen, so decided to go answer it. She opened the door, forgetting that she didn’t have her sunglasses on.

“Hello?”

“Hello” came a smooth baritone she knew well.

“Benedict” she smiled, feeling a little excitement that he was back at her door. Benedict noticed right away that she wasn’t wearing her sunglasses this time. He also noticed that her eyes were a remarkable colour. They were a creamy lilac. He had never seen such an unusual eye colour. He was even more taken with this fascinating woman.

“Gemma, I was going to ask you if you and your cousin wanted to come to dinner with me, but I think I’m a little late for that.”

“Oh yes sorry. Alicia started dinner already, but I know she always makes lots. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?”

“Only if I’m not imposing…”

“Oh definitely not imposing at all. I’ll just go tell her you’ll be staying for dinner. Have a seat please and I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you”, Benedict said as he walked into the flat and moved to the sitting room. Gemma closed the door when she heard him move past her, then went to find her cousin who would be self conscious about her cooking and nervous that Benedict was here, probably be squealing and excited. She smiled to herself. This was going to be fun.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma, Alicia, and Benedict were sitting at the dining table. They had finished dinner and they were talking and laughing. Gemma found herself liking Benedict more and more. Alicia could see how much Benedict liked Gemma. She was quietly thrilled for her. She had managed to catch the attention of one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. She had been excited and nervous and thrilled that they had him in the flat for dinner, and she discovered that her cousin was right, he was really lovely, such a gentleman. She found herself relaxing and just being herself.

Benedict couldn’t believe his luck. Dining with two beautiful women. Gemma’s cousin, Alicia, was beautiful and honest and funny. But he found himself attracted to Gemma. She was so sweet, and down to earth. He could see how much she liked him. He found himself already planning how to get her to go on a date with him. He would book a private room in his favourite restaurant, and hope to charm her. He suddenly had a great idea. He would ask his friend Tom to come to dinner too, and pair him up with Alicia. She was the kind of girl his friend liked. Yes this would work. All he had to do was call Tom and find out when he would be available to do this double date. Hopefully soon, he didn’t want to wait too long to see this lovely woman again.

Benedict helped Alicia clear away the dishes, and she shooed him out of the kitchen so she could do the dishes. She was hoping to give him and Gemma some time together without her there.

“Let’s go into the sitting room”, Benedict said.

“Okay”, Gemma said, rising from her seat at the table.

Benedict took her hand and guided her into the sitting room. Once she was seated on the couch, he asked, “Do you like music?”

“Oh yes I love all kinds of music.”

“Do you mind if I look at the Cds and pick out something to listen to?”

“No go right ahead.”

Benedict moved over to the sound system and looked through the Cds. There was quite an eclectic collection. He choose a Cd and put it on, and went over to where Gemma sat.

“I would like it very much if you would dance with me.”

Gemma looked surprised, “Oh I haven’t danced since I lost my sight. I don’t know.”

“I can make sure you won’t run into anything. I promise.”

“Well….”

He sensed her acquiescence, and moved to help her stand and guided her to the centre of the floor, then he took her in his arms. They moved effortlessly around the floor. She was a good dancer. She sighed and laid her cheek on his shoulder.  
He could smell the scent of her shampoo, and her soap. It was a nice, clean wholesome smell. He pressed his nose into her hair, enjoying the scent.

Gemma was enjoying the scent of Benedict’s cologne. It was wonderful and heady. He was actually quite tall she discovered. She loved the feel of the muscles moving under his shirt. She smiled, thinking about what it would be like to be in his arms in another setting. She shook those naughty thoughts away. It wouldn’t do to have him thinking her a sex starved woman.

Benedict and Gemma floated in their own world as the music played on, unaware that Alicia had finished the dishes and quietly sneaked out of the kitchen and down the hall to her bedroom. She closed her door tightly, grinning from ear to ear. She was so happy for her cousin. They looked great together. She grabbed a book, and sat on her bed with her back against the headboard and quickly immersed herself in the story.

Gemma and Benedict continued to dance until he could see she was beginning to tire. He knew what it was like to battle with jetlag. It took days to get past that.

“Well I should probably go. I have a big day tomorrow.”

“Oh so soon?”

He smiled at Gemma’s little pout. She was so adorable. 

He turned off the music and walked with her to the flat door, turned, and kissed her cheek.

“I hope I will see you again soon.”

“You can drop in anytime, Benedict. I love having your company.”

“I just might do that. Anytime.”

Gemma was smiling as he left the flat. She checked that the door was locked, and made her way down the hall to her cousin’s room and tapped lightly at the door.

“Come in.”

She opened the door and Alicia said, “So……”

She could hear the smile in her cousin’s voice. She sat at the foot of her bed and said dreamily, “He kissed my cheek…..”

She was cut off by Alicia’s squeal. She laughed and said, “His lips were so soft and warm.”

“Oh Gemma I’m so happy for you. I know he likes you.”

“Do you think so?”

She was cut off from answering by the ringing of the phone by Alicia’s bed. She picked it up, talked for a few minutes, and then hung up. She was grinning, “Well. That was Benedict. He asked if we could both come to dinner with him tomorrow night. He’s bringing a friend with him.”

“Oh” Gemma was at a loss as to what to say.

“I wonder who his friend is.”

“Maybe an actor friend.”

“Well he has lots of friends and not all of them are actors, but some of them must be single, or at least the one he’s bringing tomorrow must be. Oh Gemma this is so exciting.”

“Yes. I really like Benedict.” she paused, biting her lip, then said, “quite a lot actually.”

“I am so glad you’ve found someone so wonderful, Gemma. I always knew you would. You’re such a wonderful woman.”

“Thanks cuz”, she paused for a moment then said, “when does he want us to meet them and where?”

“Oh that’s the best part. He’s going to come get us here and hire a car to take us all to the restaurant and his friend will meet us there.”

“Ooooooo, this is so exciting. Will we have enough time to get ready? I mean, with my appointments tomorrow and we’ll need time to shower and dress. And, I don’t have any nice dresses with me. I didn’t think to bring anything like that.”

“Don’t worry Benedict will come for us at 7 p.m. Your last appointment is at 3 p.m. While you’re at that last one I’ll go find us a couple nice dresses, and pairs of shoes. I saw a really nice shop when I was wandering around that will have what we need.”

Gemma nodded satisfied. She knew her cousin would find something lovely for both of them. She wouldn’t be able to see it, but she wanted to look nice for Benedict. The cousins said their good nights, got ready for bed, and were soon asleep.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next day was a busy day full of appointments. The first one was the most important. It was the assessment. The doctor would take a good look at Gemma’s eyes and see if he would be able to help her. As it turned out, he would. She would have to have one more check up with the oncologist and once he cleared her she would be able to go ahead with the surgery. This excited the cousins. The oncologist was the next appointment. He did his assessment and took samples and had them sent to the lab. It would take a week for the results to come back, but he had told them that he didn’t see any reason to halt the eye surgery, and so at the end of the last appointment they returned to the flat elated.

They quickly showered and dressed, and Alicia put up Gemma’s hair for her. She had gotten used to doing this for her cousin. Gemma had a lovely figured hugging silk dress of black and lilac. It was the perfect colour to show off Gemma’s pale, creamy skin, and cast a warm glow over her that gave her alabaster skin a tinge of pink. She was breath taking. She wore low heeled shoes in black leather with lilac bows on the heels, high heeled shoes would be awkward for her to wear. Alicia did her make up for her as well, keeping it light and natural looking.

Alicia put her hair up as well. She wore a dress of olive green that showed off her ivory skin. She wore high heeled shoes in black leather. When they were ready they moved to the sitting room to wait.

They didn’t have long to wait. Benedict was at the door promptly at 7. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a white button down shirt open at the collar. The suit went well with Gemma’s dress. They looked very nice together Alicia decided. Benedict conducted them to the waiting car and helped them in. They talked during the drive about the appointments that day. He was happy to hear that Gemma would be able to have the surgery. He kept to himself the small niggling doubt. He didn’t want to dampen their enthusiasm. He noticed that Gemma was wearing her sunglasses and managed to convince her, with Alicia’s help, to go without them. He was surprised that her eyes weren’t sunken and half closed as he’d seen with totally blind people. He thought maybe it was because she moved her eyes in the direction of the person she was talking to or listening to, and that she had been blind for about two years. That probably wouldn’t be enough time for anything to change. He had noticed that the previous night. Gemma had reluctantly agreed to not wear the sunglasses, instead stowing them in her small evening bag.

Benedict couldn’t stop looking at her. She was breath taking tonight. Her cousin really knew how to make her look her best. Alicia was quite beautiful tonight too. Tom would have a very pleasant surprise.

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	3. Chapter 3 A Double Date

Of course, Tom was surprised at the two beautiful women that Benedict escorted into the private dining room. Benedict saw that Tom had arranged to have some candles lit, the lights dimmed down, there was soft music playing, and there were flowers placed strategically around the room. Benedict had arranged for the flowers, Tom had guided their placement, and arranged for the candles, and music. 

Tom looked over the two women and wondered which one was the one Benedict wanted to impress. Benedict let go of Alicia’s arm continuing to hold onto Gemma’s arm. He introduced them both to Tom and then he guided Gemma to her seat, as Tom guided Alicia to her seat.

“Shall I open the wine?” Tom asked Benedict.

“Please do.”

As Tom opened and poured, a waiter came in, served appetizers, and left. They all enjoyed them, and this time it was Benedict who helped Gemma with her food. Then it came time to order their main courses and Benedict quietly told Gemma what was on the menu and she told him what she wanted. While they were quietly talking, Tom and Alicia continued to talk and laugh. They obviously enjoyed each other’s company. Alicia had been nervous at first, and was overjoyed to see that her date was to be Tom Hiddleston whom she had always adored. She should have known it would be Tom, she had always read that he and Benedict were good friends. She would have to thank him later. She could see how Benedict and Gemma talked quietly, and was silently thankful that he was so attentive. She knew her cousin had always been a good judge of men’s characters, and she could see how much they liked each other.

The evening moved on with all four of them talking and laughing and enjoying the company. It seemed like it was no time at all and they were done their meals. As the cousins headed for the ladies room, Alicia was perplexed to see Tom and Benedict smile at each other. There seemed to be an underlying meaning to that smile. 

They returned a few moments later, and Alicia saw that the table and chairs had been moved to the edge of the room, and the wine and their glasses moved as well. The music had been turned up a bit and it was obvious there would be dancing. Alicia quickly whispered this to Gemma and then moved to where Tom was waiting for her. She moved into his arms as Benedict welcomed Gemma into his arms, and they danced for a long while. Each of the cousins enjoying the company of their man. 

Gemma laid her head on Benedict’s chest and enjoyed the sensation of floating rather than dancing. She felt the small circles that his thumb was making on her back. It was sending delicious tingles through her whole body. She unconsciously pressed closer against Benedict and his arms tightened around her. She took a deep breath smelling his cologne, and sighed, relaxing into his arms. She felt a light touch on top of her head and realized he dropped a kiss there. She smiled giving him a little squeeze. They continued to dance, lost in each other. It was eventually time to leave. Tom took Alicia’s arm and Benedict took Gemma’s, and they guided them both to the sleek black car that took them home. 

When they arrived, Tom took Alicia straight into the flat while Benedict hung back with Gemma in the entryway.

Benedict turned Gemma to him and said, “You know you’re the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met. You’re so strong in so many ways, you’re beautiful…..” Gemma dropped her head shaking it “….no you are beautiful, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met you. I would really like to see you again …… as often as possible.”

“Benedict you’re such a wonderful man. Why would you want to saddle yourself with me”, she didn’t see Benedict frown, “I’m ….. I’m defective. I don’t even know if the cancer will stay in remission. I don’t know if the surgery will work. I could be blind for the rest of my life. Can you honestly tell me that you would be okay with that when you could have your pick of any woman you want?”

“I may have the pick of any woman but none of them are half as interesting as you. I find you incredibly fascinating. I want to spend time getting to know you.”

Gemma smiled, feeling elated. She really liked Benedict and was finding herself increasingly more attracted to him.

He was speaking again, “I am going to have to go back to the U.S. tomorrow. I would like to have your permission to call you. I want to keep in touch with you. I ….” he swallowed, ”I want to hear your voice every day.”

“I would like that too”, she smiled, happy that this amazing man wanted to keep in touch with her.

He was about to take her arm and guide her into the flat, but she stopped him.

“Is there someplace we can sit for a few moments?”

Benedict looked perplexed as he said, “Not out here, but there is in my part of the house.”

“Can we go there please?”

Benedict wondered what she had in mind, but didn’t question her further and instead guided her up the stairs to his flat. Once inside they sat on the comfortable couch, and Gemma turned to Benedict.

“Do you know how a blind person can see what a person looks like?”

“No, I hadn’t thought about that. How do you do that?”

“I use my fingertips and touch the person’s face, mapping it out. It gives me a basic idea of what that person looks like. I don’t do this with very many people, but I would like to see you. Would you let me?”

Benedict nodded, realized she wouldn’t see that, and said, “Yes you can do that.” He felt a little ashamed that he would be willing to let her touch him anytime just to feel her touch.

“Okay close your eyes, and keep them closed as I touch your face. I’ll tell you when you can open them again.”

Benedict did as she asked of him, “Okay”, and she slowly raised her hands. First she ran her fingers through his curly hair, smiling. She loved how silky soft it was. Then she moved to his forehead, eyebrows, and eyes, feeling that slight tingling sensation in her hands, wondering what that was, and then slid one fingertip along his nose. She next touched his cheekbones, taking her time sliding along them, amazed at how prominent they were. Then she traced his jaw around to his chin. 

He was surprised that the light touch sent little shivers of pleasure through him. He could feel himself becoming aroused, and immediately berated himself. This isn’t what she had in mind when she requested this he told himself. Then felt her fingertips lightly grazing over his lips. 

He was surprised when he felt her lips touch his tentatively, and he responded gently to her kiss, letting her have control. He didn’t want to intimidate or scare her. She continued to press light kisses on his lips a few more times. Then he felt her tongue quickly flick across his bottom lip. He gasped and she was kissing him more firmly, and again he responded. He slid his arms around her and deepened the kiss hearing her moan softly. Their tongues met and danced together as he felt the arousal start again. Gemma wrapped her arms around his shoulders, fingers sliding into his hair, giving herself over to him, and he took her lips in kiss after kiss until they were both breathless.

Just then there was a knock at his door, and reluctantly let Gemma go, saying, “That will be Tom. It seems they’ve missed us already.”

Gemma chuckled and stood, saying, “Well I guess we should get back down there then.”

Benedict took her arm, and opening the door said, “Yes we’re just coming.”

All three made their way back downstairs, and into the main floor flat. There was tea set out and music playing. Benedict saw immediately the twinkle in Alicia’s eyes that told him she and Tom had been up to similar activities as he and Gemma had been a few moments ago. He chuckled to himself.

They enjoyed a lively discussion over tea, and then Tom and Benedict, being gentlemen, took their leave of the ladies. Outside the door, Tom turned to Benedict and asked, “Do you think it is alright if I see Alicia again?”

“Oh I’m sure she’d be disappointed if you didn’t”, he said, and Tom chuckled.

“Good because I’d really like to see more of her.”

“Well, I am sure she would like to see more of you too. Thank you for coming tonight, my friend.”

“Yes. We’ll have to do that again sometime.”

“Certainly. Well good night then. I have an early flight tomorrow.”

“Aw yes, back to the U.S. again.”

“Yes, just one more week, and then I’ll be done with the filming. Then I can come back here and spend more time with Gemma.”

“And I will be spending more time with Alicia.”

They chuckled and then Tom let himself out the door. Benedict stood for a moment or two watching him get into the waiting car and pull away. Then he turned and made his way back to his flat, still thinking about the kiss he and Gemma had shared.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

When the men left, Alicia turned to Gemma. She was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. She told her about Tom and herself, squealing excitedly about kissing him, and then they were both squealing when Gemma told her about kissing Benedict. They were giddy with excitement and stayed up late talking. They eventually got to bed.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Benedict sat on his couch, his fingers touching his lips, thinking about Gemma. Her lips were so soft, and she was certainly a good kisser. He was lost in his thoughts, smiling. He lost track of time and only when he heard his phone ding with a text did he snap out of it. It was a text from his assistant letting him know that the car would be by to pick him up in half an hour. He checked his watch and realized he had been lost in thoughts of Gemma all night. He jumped up and quickly moved about his flat packing the things we would need for the next week in the U.S. He was suddenly wishing he didn’t have to go back there. He wanted to stay with Gemma and get to know her more.

Well one more week and he would be back. He wouldn’t be going anywhere too far away for awhile. He wanted to be there for Gemma when she had the surgery. He sighed, irritated at himself that he hadn’t slept at all. He couldn’t sleep very well on planes, and he would have to start filming as soon as he got there. He knew he would be very tired.

He grabbed his luggage, swept down the stairs, and got in the car and was pulling away when his phone rang. When he looked he saw that it was a call from Gemma. He picked up right away.

“Hello.”

“Hi Benedict. I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed dinner last night” she paused, “I enjoyed your company too.”

Benedict smiled, “I enjoyed spending time with you. I hope we can spend more time together soon.”

“I would really like that, Benedict.”

Benedict smiled, “And, Gemma, you can call me Ben.”

“Ok ….. Ben.”

He smiled wider, “I am going to miss you.”

“I will miss you too, Ben.”

They said their goodbyes only after Ben extracted a promise from Gemma to call him at the same time everyday. She promised enthusiastically.


	4. Sightseeing

Gemma and Alicia had made some plans for the next few days. They would keep themselves busy and distracted, and the week would fly by fast.

The day that Ben left, Alicia and Gemma had planned a tour of the Sherlock Holmes Museum. They took their time, Alicia describing the displays for her cousin, and her cousin commenting or asking more questions. They enjoyed it thoroughly. Alicia’s phone kept dinging with messages. When Gemma asked about it, she discovered that Tom and her had been texting each other. She thought it was adorable and said no more about it. Gemma called Ben at the appointed time that night.

“Hello”, Ben sounded breathless.

“Hi. It’s Gemma.”

“I am so glad you called. We’re just on a break while they set up for a new scene.” 

That explained why he sounded breathless, she thought.

“So how is your day going?”

“Very tiring. It’s a really physical role, but I love doing as much of the stunts as I can myself.”

“I always think that that would be fun to try.”

“Did you have any more appointments today?”

“No appointments today. We’re just waiting for the results from the oncologists samples, but he’s pretty sure I’ll be clear. Enough to actually tell me so anyway.”

“Well I am glad that it’s all good. Did you and Alicia do anything then?”

“Yeah, we went to the Sherlock Holmes museum.”

“Oh”, Ben was wondering how she could enjoy something if she couldn’t see it. Gemma must have heard the uncertainty in his voice, she continued, “Alicia describes everything to me. She’s great with details that help me form a picture in my own mind.”

“Hmm that’s certainly a good way to help you picture it. Do you do that with art galleries and such places too?”

“Yes, and for television there’s this great channel for sight impaired people that describes all the settings and actions of each show.”

“Oh really. I didn’t know there was such a channel. What kind of shows do they do?”

“They try to do as many as they can, but it’s usually Canadian and British shows. They do a few American shows too.”

“Have you ever listened to the Sherlock series?”

“Unfortunately, they haven’t done that one yet. Why? Are you a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories?”

“Yeah, I used to read them all the time when I was young, and now I actually portray Sherlock in the new series that BBC does.”

“Oh that’s fascinating.”

Just then Ben said, “I’ll have to let you go. It looks like I’m needed on set again.”

“Alright. Well you have a good day, and I’ll talk to you again tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Bye, Ben.”

“Bye, my sweet.”

Gemma giggled, secretly thrilled by the endearment.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

They spent the second day browsing some stores. They had gone to a few local boutiques and Gemma felt the materials of the clothes, loving the feel. They tried a few on, and didn’t buy any of them. Then they went to a few high end designer boutiques and enjoyed themselves. There was Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Spencer Hart. Alicia found a gorgeous dress in the Spencer Hart store and knew that it would look amazing on Gemma. She put it back wishing she could afford it for Gemma. They had money just not the kind of money that could buy a dress like that.

They continued on to other shops, and then headed back to the flat. That was when Alicia told Gemma that they were invited out to dinner with Tom. That evening Tom took them out to a more casual restaurant that he and Ben frequented. They had glorious fun with Tom telling them stories about things that happened on his movie sets. When Tom walked them to the house, Gemma discreetly went inside and to her bedroom. She heard Alicia eventually go to her room. She did not know that Alicia had told Tom about the dress in Spencer Hart, or that Tom would tell Ben.

Gemma called Ben again that night talking to him about his shoot that day. She told him about their explorations through the shops, excitedly telling him about the materials, and how they’d tried clothes on. He loved just listening to her talk. When they said their good nights, Ben again called her “my sweet”. She loved that he seemed to enjoy using endearments with her, and briefly wondered if he had with his other girlfriends too. She quickly pushed that thought away, not wanting to even think about that, instead she decided to think about what endearment she would call him. 

She lay in bed and thought until she heard Alicia come in from the entryway where she had been talking with Tom. She thought that was probably not all they did. She smiled to herself, knowing that her cousin and Tom were getting along well. She would have to arrange to let them go out by themselves one night.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The third day, they decided to go to the Heath, and explore and swim. They walked around and enjoyed the sun and the peace of nature, listening to the birds, and the sound of wind in the trees.

They talked for a long time about the test results, and the upcoming surgeries, and then they talked about Tom and Ben. For the first time, being candid with one another about how they each felt about their man.

They walked on for awhile and then they heard the noise of people enjoying a swim, and followed it to the ponds. They quickly pulled off their clothes, having worn their swimsuits under them and went for a splash. Alicia was secretly overjoyed that Gemma was actually okay with swimming. She had always been so paranoid before. She figured Ben was doing a lot of good for her cousin.

She knew that Gemma was calling and talking to Ben at his request. She chose to not try to hear what they talked about. It was private what they said to one another. She was just happy for Gemma, and she was so happy with Tom.

Gemma and Ben talked for a long time. They talked about their day, and talked about what they wanted for their future. And, for the first time, Gemma told Ben more about her experiences with fighting cancer. When they said good night Ben nearly told her that he loved her, but just managed to hold it back. He wasn’t sure that was something he should say to her at this point, but he knew he did love her. It had happened when he wasn’t paying attention.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The following day, the fourth day, Tom came and picked them up and took them to the studios. He wanted Alicia especially to see where he worked and he wanted to introduce her to his fellow actors and friends. They sat quietly while they listened to the entire cast going over their lines and the conversation around the scenes.

When they broke for lunch, he took them to a quiet place and ate a light lunch with them. Then he returned to going over more of the lines and scenes, and the cousins went back to their flat. They had decided to take the afternoon to just relax at home.

They had arranged with Tom to go out with him that evening. He took them to a special exhibit at the Kensington Art Gallery, and followed that with dinner at his same favourite restaurant.

That night, Gemma and Ben talked again about their day, and what they did. Ben talked about his plans for the house renovations and what he wanted to do. “My sweet” was quickly becoming his usual endearment and Gemma loved it.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 

The fifth and sixth days, they took to explore some of the touristy places around London, and Tom was everpresent with them on those days, being that he and the rest of the cast were done running over lines and scenes, and were waiting for the set and wardrobe people to have everything ready. The dress rehearsals would be starting soon.

They had great fun as Tom was such good company.   
Gemma and Ben once again talked. Gemma had yet to think of an endearment she liked for Ben. She noticed that Alicia was taking longer and longer each night with Tom. She thought it was great.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	5. Danger

The evening of the last day, Tom was to take them out again, and Gemma insisted that this time they go on their own. She felt they needed to spend some time just with one another and not have to worry about her. She ate light that night and thought about Ben. She wouldn’t be able to call him tonight because he was on the jet flying home through the night. He had sounded so tired yesterday when she talked to him that she didn’t keep him for long.

She thought she heard a noise then, coming from Ben’s flat, and sat up and listened more closely. Yes there it was again. She frowned. She thought he wouldn’t be home until early morning. She smiled at the thought that he might have hopped an earlier flight to get home sooner. The thought excited her, she wanted to surprise him by going up the stairs to his flat instead of waiting for him to come down to her. She stood then, and decided to surprise him by going up the stairs on her own.

 

She walked to the door of their flat, passed through into the entryway and closed the door. Then she slowly made her way up the stairs to Ben’s door. She felt for the door and it swung open easily. It hadn’t been closed. She thought it odd that he would leave the door open. He didn’t usually do that. She pushed it open further and called his name. The flat was silent. She moved through the door calling his name again. Still the flat was silent. She stopped inside the door, puzzled that there was no answer. Could he not hear her? Was he in the shower? But no she didn’t hear any water running.

Then she heard it, just the slight noise of someone trying to keep silent and not quite managing it. Gemma’s mind was screaming at her to get out of the flat now. She obeyed and had just got to the head of the stairs when she felt a hand on her back give her a hard shove. She gasped as she felt herself propelled forward down the stairs.

When she hit the bottom she was unconscious. There was no one around to see the silent figure that slipped past her crumpled body and out the door.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben stretched and yawned as he stood to deplane. He smiled at the thought that he would see the lovely woman of his dreams soon. He reached up into the plane’s overhead storage and grabbed his small case. His PA would grab the rest of his luggage for him, and meet him at the car. When he got into the terminal, he switched his phone on to see what messages he missed. He saw that there were several urgent messages from Tom to call him as soon as possible. He frowned and quickly dialled his friend, wondering what was so urgent that he had texted that many times.

“Ben? Oh thank god. I’ve been trying to reach you for several hours.”

“I just got off the plane. What’s so urgent?”

“Ben I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’ll just say it straight out…..”

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling the foreboding of bad news.

Tom continued, “It’s Gemma….”

Ben’s chest suddenly constricted, and his stomach clenched.

“Oh god what’s happened.”

“She’s at St. Bart’s. You better get over here right away.”

“I’m on my way.” Ben said feeling cold fear seep through his body. As he moved through the crowd looking for his PA and their luggage, his mind torturing him with horrible images, remembering that niggling doubt he had about her test results. God he hoped that she wasn’t going to be taken from him when he had just found this amazing woman. He wanted to have much longer with her.

He found his PA quickly, and told her what was going on. She took command and got him into a car heading for the hospital, while she got a second car with all the luggage. The whole ride there, his mind tortured him more with horrible images. His stomach rolled, and he had to choke back tears. He kept telling himself to stop imagining such terrible things, but he couldn’t get them to stop.

When he arrived at the hospital, he found Tom waiting by the entrance door. He was wearing a crumpled suit, and he looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

He quickly guided Ben into a waiting elevator, pushed the button for the floor that Gemma was on, and filled Ben in on what had happened.

He and Alicia had come home from their date to find Gemma crumpled at the foot of the stairs, her head bleeding, leg twisted at an odd angle, and unconscious. They quickly discovered that Gemma must have interrupted someone robbing his flat as evidenced by the state of his flat when Tom ran up to investigate his open door. They called the ambulance and then the police who were there most of the night, and would need to talk to Ben and see what was missing from his flat. 

Ben was horrified when he heard the story, feeling like he was in some weird nightmare. He couldn’t lose Gemma, he just couldn’t. 

“God, I am so sorry, Ben. I shouldn’t have left her home by herself, but she insisted that Alicia and I have a night just for each other.”

“No Tom. Don’t blame yourself. There’s nothing you could have done, and you and Alicia deserve some time alone.”

“Thank you for saying that Ben, but I still feel so guilty….”

“I’m just glad you found her so quickly.”

The elevator stopped, they got out, and Tom walked quickly down one corridor Ben following behind. They stopped at a closed door, and Tom opened it and went in. Ben steeled himself, and walked in behind Tom. The first thing he saw was Gemma looking so small and white in the hospital bed. She had an IV in her arm, her right leg was in a cast, and there were bandages around her head. 

Alicia was sitting in a chair by the bed, and he knew he would have a hard time getting her to budge from the chair, even though she was practically falling out of it she was so tired. Alicia looked up when he came in, and he saw that she looked as pale as her cousin. She stood as he walked over to her and gave her a hug.

“How is our girl?”

“She’s still unconscious. The doctors say she has a concussion. She banged her head pretty hard when she fell”, she paused momentarily, and then continued, “The police think she interrupted a robbery at your flat, and ….. they say from her injuries, and the marks and scuffs it looks like she was pushed down the stairs.”

Ben felt a cold fury start building within him. He pinched his lips together. He looked at his beautiful angel’s bruised and broken body, and vowed that he would get the bastard who did this. 

He turned to Alicia, “You should go and get some rest, I’ll sit here with her.” 

Alicia was about to protest when Tom slid his arm around her shoulder, “You can come stay at my place just in case the police aren’t done at the house yet. I don‘t think you really want to be alone right now either.”

Alicia sagged against Tom feeling all the fight go out of her body. It would be nice to lay down on a nice soft bed. She nodded her head, and Tom nodded to Ben and guided her out of the room. 

When they were gone, Ben sat in the chair vacated by Alicia, and pulled out his phone switching it to vibrate, and checked for messages. There was one from his PA saying that the police were still at the flat, and that they would like him to look through his flat and see what was taken. He messaged her back what room Gemma was in, and that he was staying with her for awhile. He would talk with the police the following day, and look over the flat and see what was missing. He also asked her to check the cousin’s flat as well, and grab some clothes and toiletries for Alicia, and told her where to deliver them. He pocketed the phone, and gently took one of Gemma’s hands in his.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia couldn’t get the image of Gemma at the bottom of the stairs out of her mind. At any other time, she would have been thrilled to be going to Tom’s flat, but she had too much on her mind right now.

When they arrived at Tom’s flat, she discovered it was quite cozy. She liked it immediately, but she didn’t have time to admire much of it. As soon as they got there Tom had guided her down a hallway to the first room which was obviously his, and told her to lay down there and try to rest. He had said they would have some tea later. She lay her head on the soft, fluffy pillow, relaxed, and ……. she couldn’t sleep even though she was exhausted. She kept seeing Gemma at the bottom of the stairs every time she closed her eyes. There was also the strangeness of someone else’s flat. She tossed and turned for nearly an hour and finally decided to get up again. She opened the bedroom door and saw Tom stepping through the doorway of the other room. He smiled, “You can’t sleep either?”

“No. I keep seeing Gemma every time I close my eyes.”

“You should try to rest anyway even if you can‘t sleep.”

“You should be too.” Alicia paused, uncertain how to phrase what she wanted to say, then continued, “Tom …. I know this will sound strange, but …….. I think I would sleep if I had someone with me…” She looked down, blushing, and ashamed that she had admitted to needing someone to hold her.

Tom understood, and wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug which she returned happily. He pulled back a bit, and tilting her chin up, said, “How about we share the bed. You might relax and sleep with the physical presence of someone else with you, and it will probably help me sleep too.”

She blushed again, nodding, and shuffled over to the bed, suddenly feeling awkward. She paused, then crawled onto the bed and lay on her side. She looked at Tom as he sat on the edge of the bed getting ready to slide down beside her. Just then the doorbell rang, and Alicia bolted up in bed, heart racing. Tom gave her a quick reassuring squeeze, said, “I’ll get it. You stay here”, and went to the door. She heard voices faintly and then he reappeared in the doorway with a small suitcase that looked like one of hers.

“Ben asked his PA to pack some clothes and other things for you and bring them over.” 

He set the case on a chair by the closet. Alicia got up and opened the case, seeing that there was everything she would need for a few days. She would have to thank Ben later. She grabbed her pajamas and some toiletries, and turning to Tom said, “I’ll just shower, change into these, and then lay down.”

Tom smiled, “Alright. I think I’ll do the same.”

She went into the ensuite bathroom, and showered, brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and then walked back into the bedroom. Tom was already in the bed, his hair damp from the shower, wearing a t-shirt and boxers. She hesitantly walked over to the bed, and then taking a deep breath, pulled back the blankets and crawled in. He reached over and pulled her into his arms, laying her head on his chest, and kissing her forehead, he murmured, “Get some rest, love.”

Alicia was sound asleep in no time, and Tom wasn’t far behind.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben sat in the chair watching Gemma, hoping for any sign that she might wake up. His eyes slowly drifted shut, his head lolling forward onto the bed, and soon after was fast asleep snoring lightly. His hand never let go of Gemma’s.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia opened her eyes to sunlight streaming through the window. She lay there feeling warm and content. She lay on her side, and Tom was spooning her, his arms wrapped around her. She wanted to stay that way forever, but thoughts of Gemma got her moving and stretching. She knew Tom would wake when she started moving, but she was already restless to get back to the hospital.

When Tom stretched she felt a warm hardness brush against her back, and she had to breathe slowly and evenly while her body went crazy with incredible sensations. She knew she was getting aroused quickly. Already she was aching for Tom.

It didn’t help that he was humming close to her ear. Then she felt him press forward against her, lean close to her ear, and whisper low and soft, “Good morning.”

She nearly squeaked when he did that, but just managed to stop herself. Unfortunately, her body felt like it was on fire, with Tom’s hot, hard erection pressed against her lower back. She was in danger of moaning, and she knew what that would lead to if she did.

When she felt the soft brush of Tom’s lips against the side of her neck, she couldn’t hold back any longer. The moan she let out was so deep and dark she was surprised it came from her. She turned in Tom’s arms, and when she did he took her lips in a searing kiss that had her clinging to his shoulders, moaning, and returning the kiss with every ounce of passion she had in herself. His tongue danced with hers, kissing her until they were both breathless. He paused to take a gasping breath, and took her lips again and again in searing hot kisses. She was pressing hard against him, one leg up over his hip. His large hand was pulling her harder against him. She was moaning and rubbing her hot center against his quite large erection.

Oh god she wanted him so badly. She could feel how big he was, and it just made her hotter. Then she felt his hand slide under her pajama top sliding along her bare skin leaving a fiery trail in it’s wake. She felt her skin prickle, and her nipples go taut. She was moaning helplessly. Then his hand was caressing her breast, and she gasped and shivered with the intensity of the pleasure. She ground her hot sex hard against the huge erection that was driving her crazy. They both moaned with the pleasure that created.

His phone ringing jarred them both back to reality, and Tom turned and reached for it. Alicia was silently cursing that they were interrupted.

She laid back and listened to Tom’s side of the conversation as she caught her breath. She figured out quickly that it was Ben. She sat up and watched Tom’s face. When he hung up, he turned to her and said, “Gemma’s awake. The doctor wants to talk to you and Ben together.”

Alicia jumped out of bed, their earlier passion forgotten, and threw clothes on quickly, brushed her teeth and hair, and grabbed her purse. She saw that Tom was keeping pace with her. They were out the door and driving to the hospital in minutes.


	6. Delays

When Tom and Alicia got to Gemma’s hospital room, they found her sitting up and talking with the doctor. Alicia glanced around, but didn’t see Ben anywhere. She thought that odd.

“Ah, you must be Miss Shaw” the doctor greeted her, and shook hands as she said, “This is Tom”.

“Hey Gemma, how are you doing?”, Alicia asked as she hugged her cousin and best friend.

“Alright, bit of a headache, but it’s supposed to eventually go away.”

“I’m Dr. Evans”, the doctor cut in smoothly, “as I was just explaining to Miss Grant, the concussion isn’t severe but I talked with Dr. Taylor, who will be performing her eye surgery, and it was decided to delay her surgery for a couple weeks. We want to make sure there isn’t any damage to her sight centers in her brain.”

Alicia sagged feeling the disappointment acutely. Tom slid his arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She looked up at him and smiled, appreciating the comforting gesture. She felt so bad for Gemma, she knew how much this surgery meant to her. Her cousin cut into her thoughts just then.

“I can feel your disappointment over here cousin, but it’s really alright. The surgery will delayed by a couple weeks that’s all. I’ve waited two years to have this surgery, a couple weeks is no big deal.”

Alicia relaxed a little, at her cousin’s bright hope. She just hoped it wouldn’t be dashed completely.

“So we’ve scheduled an MRI to determine if there has been any residual damage to her brain. It will be done tomorrow morning.”

“Does Ben know?”, asked Alicia.

“Yes I talked to Mr. Cumberbatch about 20 minutes ago.”

“The police didn’t want to wait any longer for him, so he went to his flat to have a look around. He said he’d be back as soon as he could. I imagine they’ll want to talk to me eventually too”, supplied Gemma.

“Not until we’ve done the MRI tomorrow. I’ve told the police that already. They’ve agreed to wait until after that. I won’t be able to hold them off longer than that”, Dr. Evans said.

“Good. I want to be here when they talk to you, and I’m sure Ben would like to be as well.”

“I imagine they’ll want to talk to us too”, said Tom.

Alicia hadn’t thought of that until now, but yes, of course, Tom was right. They would want to talk to them. She sighed, feeling dragged out.

“Gemma, do you mind if I take Alicia away long enough to get some food into her?”, Tom asked.

“Oh good lord, you mean you haven’t eaten yet?”, Gemma said, sounding astonished, “Then you two better get something to eat. You must be starving.”

Alicia’s stomach picked that moment to growl loudly. They all laughed, and Tom and Alicia excused themselves and went in search of food. Dr. Evans excused himself and left the room as well, leaving Gemma alone.

She laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, going over the previous evening. She remembered perfectly what she’d heard. She didn’t look forward to talking to the police tomorrow, but she felt a little better knowing that Ben and Alicia would stay with her.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben was standing in his flat looking around at the mess. It looked like it had been hit by a small tornado. He called his PA and asked her to arrange for a cleaning company to come in and clean the mess. He would decide then whether there was anything he would be replacing. He also had her arrange for a locksmith to come and replace the lock and door handle. As a last minute thought, he asked her to arrange to have the whole flat repainted, and the furniture cleaned. She would arrange for someone to supervise all the work. He asked her to also arrange to have all his clothes and personal things taken out before the cleaning and painting started.

He took one last look around, closed the door, and left. He hailed a taxi, got in, and told the cabbie the address of his agent’s office. He needed to make some arrangements to take time off.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom and Alicia sat in the little café, that the nurse at the desk had suggested, sipping their tea. They had finished eating their meals and there was a comfortable silence as they each chased their own thoughts.

Tom was thinking about Gemma and all the possible scenarios that could happen. He wanted to be prepared to help his lovely Alicia with whatever happened. His mind eventually slid to the aborted lovemaking in his bed only a couple hours ago, and felt the warmth of arousal washing through him. God he wanted her so badly, but he wanted the time to be right too.

Alicia broke into his thoughts, “I was thinking that Ben will need somewhere to stay while his place is cleaned and the door fixed.”

“He can stay with me in my spare bedroom”, volunteered Tom.

“Well”, Alicia said slowly, looking bashful, “I was thinking …… you know since I have a bunch of my clothes and such already at your place that maybe …..” she paused, licking her lips, “well maybe I could stay with you and Ben could stay at our flat with Gemma. That way he could keep an eye on her, and help her like you know he‘s going to want to do.”

Tom smiled, delighted that she wanted to stay with him, “That’s sounds like a great idea. He’s also stronger and can help Gemma around while she’s got a cast on.”

Alicia blinked, surprised. Of course, Ben would be stronger. She just hoped that he would have the time to look after Gemma. She frowned, wondering.

“Hey what are you thinking about?”, asked Tom, concerned.

“I’m just wondering if Ben will have the time to look after her. He’s just come back from filming a movie in the U.S. and he must have other projects he’ll be doing.”

“I’ll quickly check with him, and see what he thinks”, Tom said, pulling out his phone and texting.

As it turned out, Ben had thought of that. He told Tom he was just on his way to his agent’s to clear his schedule and bump projects and such until Gemma had had her eye surgery.

Tom hung up, and told Alicia the good news. Then they decided to go tell Gemma the plans too.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma said she loved the idea, although Alicia suspected that she was really just trying to keep from being in the way of the blooming relationship with Tom. He had left the room to go in search of some braille books for Gemma to read while stuck in hospital.

Alicia took the opportunity to tell Gemma about that morning with Tom. They both giggled excitedly, and they both knew that Alicia and Tom would probably be making love ….. soon. Especially with her cousin staying in Tom’s flat with him.

Gemma’s thoughts turned to Ben and their own blooming relationship. They had only kissed once, but with the calls everyday while he was filming in the U.S. their feelings for one another had grown. She thought about what it had been like to kiss Ben, the feel of his arms around her, the silky curls that wrapped around her fingers, the feel of strong, rippling muscle in his shoulders, the soft touch of his lips, and his face when she had touched it, learning his features. She was pretty sure things would have gone farther if they hadn’t been interrupted. She wondered what it would be like to make love with him. What it would feel like to be naked pressed up against him, to have his large hands on her, to feel his lips on her. She felt wave of arousal sweep through her body, leaving a sweet ache between her legs. She wanted Ben so badly and wondered if he felt the same.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom arrived at the door of Gemma’s room with some braille books just as Ben was walking down the hallway towards them. He was smiling happily.

“Hey, I was thinking that you and Alicia could go enjoy yourselves and I can stay with Gemma. I’ll let you know if there’s any news, okay?”

Tom paused, looked in the door at Alicia, and then turned and said, “That sounds great.”

Alicia, seeing Ben and Tom talking outside Gemma’s door, stepped out to join them. They looked at each other and smiled. Tom quickly told her what Ben had suggested, and she agreed. Tom and Alicia left with reassurances from Ben that he would explain everything to Gemma.

Ben watched the couple walk away, and smiled. They were so obviously in love. He wondered if they knew that themselves.

He opened the door and walked into the room. Gemma was asleep. He moved to the chair by her bed, and only after he was seated did he realize she was making breathy little moans. He wondered what she was dreaming about. He suddenly remembered to turn his phone to vibrate, and quickly did so. He didn’t want to wake his love. He sat and watched her sleep. The breathy little moans filled the air between them, and then Ben heard her say something. He didn’t catch what she said so he moved closer wanting to hear it in case she was having a nightmare.

He heard it clearly and was surprised and, maybe a little pleased. He sat back down and smiled to himself continuing to watch her sleep and listening to her moans. She was dreaming about him, and judging by her moans, it was a very pleasant dream.

His mind drifted to the night they kissed, thinking about how she felt in his arms, her lips, her soft moans as they kissed. He wondered what it would be like to make love to her as he listened to the moans coming from the bed, and he felt a hot flash of arousal sear through him, leaving him hard. He bit his lip trying to calm his body, willing his aching erection to go away. He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing and trying to block out Gemma’s moans. He frowned trying hard to focus but knew he was failing. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to block it out. He wanted Gemma so desperately. Her moans made his erection throb painfully. He pressed his palm against it and felt a rush of pleasure. He tried to bite back his moan, but not quite. It came out a little strangled.

“You okay?”

He jumped, startled by Gemma’s voice.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, love”, he said, trying to adjust himself to be more comfortable. He blushed at the thought that Gemma had heard him moan.

“Are you thirsty or hungry?”

“Yes I wouldn’t mind some tea”, she said hopefully.

“I’ll just go find some for you. I’ll be right back.”

He got up and walked slowly, hoping no one would spot the bulge in his trousers. He saw a men’s washroom and quickly went in. It was a single stall. He locked the door, feeling slightly guilty that he would have to take care of his “problem” here.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	7. Pleasantries

Ben had walked into Gemma’s room feeling terribly guilty. He had thought of Gemma, her moans, how she felt in his arms kissing her, to help him with his “problem” and he felt that somehow it was degrading her. 

Now he sat in the chair his head down as he listened to Gemma talking. She finally paused, feeling that something was wrong. Ben hadn’t said much since he came back with her tea. She wanted to know what was bothering him.

“Ben, what’s wrong?”

He swallowed around the lump in his throat, not wanting to tell her. He was so ashamed of what he’d done. He wouldn’t blame her for being angry with him. He just hoped she could forgive him. He just didn’t know how to tell her.

“Ben?”

“Gemma….”, he paused, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

She could hear the strain in his voice, and knew he was about to tell her something unpleasant. Her stomach clenched with panic. Was he going to break it off with her? Did he hook up with one of those beautiful actresses he worked with after all? She swallowed down the panic and fear, and waited.

“Earlier, when I came in here you were sleeping, and …. you were moaning. I heard you say my name, and realized that you were dreaming about me….”

“Yes I was”, she said blushing furiously.

She was so embarrassed that he knew that she had dreamt about making love with him. Was that it? Did he not want that with her?

“Well I listened to you, knowing it was me you were dreaming about and I got turned on…”, he paused, ashamed with himself, but he pushed on, he had to get the rest out, “…. well I got overexcited and when I went to get your tea I ….. well I found it really hard to walk …..”

Gemma realized now what he was trying to say. Clenching her jaws and swallowing hard, trying not to laugh at the image in her mind of Ben trying to walk like that.

Ben continued, “…. I tried really hard to make it go away. I swear I did, but I couldn’t. When I saw a bathroom, I went in and …..”, he swallowed again, closing his eyes, not wanting to see her face when he said it, “….I went in and took care of it but I had to think of you to do that.”

By now, she was biting her lip trying not to laugh picturing Ben struggling to walk down the hallway. She knew that wouldn’t make things any better. When he told her what he’d done she realized just how much he wanted her too. She blinked, not saying anything for a moment.

Ben kept his eyes closed, waiting for the backlash to come. There was just silence, and that scared him more.

Gemma paused, wanting to make sure of what she wanted to say to him.

“Ben” she said softly, “are saying that my moans when I was dreaming made you hard?”

“Yes”, he said simply, still waiting, not daring to chance anymore.

“…. and that when you couldn’t get rid of your …. erection …. you thought of me to help get rid of it? You …. wanked in the washroom to thoughts of me?”

“Yes”, he said again. God it sounded so terrible when it was said like that.

She paused, he sounded so tense. She frowned for a moment, then she realized that he thought she would be angry. She needed to say the next bit the right way so she didn’t make him feel worse.

“Ben? Come sit here ….” she gestured to the edge of the bed beside her. Ben moved to the spot indicated, and waited. Gemma reached out for his hand and held it between both her hands.

She continued, “You feel ashamed of what you did, don’t you?”

“Yes I do. Gemma, love, I am so sorry. I really tried hard not to, but I couldn’t get it to go away. I’ve degraded you by doing that, and I am so, so sorry.”

He saw Gemma smile, and he stopped, not expecting that reaction.

“Ben if you had done that with thoughts of someone you weren’t dating then yes that would be degrading her, but you thought of me. I am quite flattered that I have that effect on you.”

Dating? he thought. He smiled, looking at Gemma. Yes they were dating, weren’t they. Maybe everything would be okay after all.

“Gemma, I love you, and I promise that I won’t ever do anything like that again.” He hadn’t even realized that he’d just declared his love to Gemma. She was thrilled to pieces to know that he loved her. She wanted to tell him how she felt too.

“Ben, I love you too. I hope that you will do that again, ……. and maybe you’ll allow me help to you with it next time”, she smirked at him.

Ben was looking at Gemma, watching the lovely blush wash over her pale skin. 

Was she suggesting what he thought she was? Then the rest of her words sunk in. She loved him. His heart sang, Gemma loved him.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, squeezing gently, reassuringly.

“I guess we have some things to discuss, love. You know, relationships and such.”

He watched her bite her lip, but he could see the smile anyway.

Yes they would have a few things to discuss, he thought.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom showed Alicia some of the touristy sights. They laughed, and talked, and greatly enjoyed each other’s company. They enjoyed the day and finally arrived back at Tom’s flat in the evening, full from dinner, and slightly giggly from the wine they’d had with dinner. Alicia stumbled a little, and Tom reached out and caught her before she could fall. She wasn’t giggling anymore. She was facing Tom, pressed up against him, and without a word she reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed him.

Tom responded to her kiss, pulling her tighter against him. She moaned, deepening the kiss, their tongues touching and teasing. He slid his hands up her sides, making her skin prickle, and pushed her coat off her shoulders. She dropped her arms, letting the coat fall to the floor. Then she was pulling off his coat, and undoing and pulling off his button down shirt. She slid her hands over his bare chest, teasing his nipples. He moaned deeply, and bent down, picked her up, and carried her to his bedroom.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben stayed with Gemma as she went through the MRI. He waited with her while the scan was analyzed. He wanted to be there for her just in case she got some bad news. When the doctor came into the room, Gemma looked like she was vibrating with tension.

“Well Miss Grant, it looks like you’re all clear, but Dr. Taylor is still going to wait for an extra two weeks before doing your eye surgery.”

Gemma felt all her anxiety melt away. She felt a rush of relief, then she tensed a little remembering that she would have to talk to the police now.

“The police will be here shortly”, Dr. Evans said, “I would like you to stay in the hospital one more night. I can release you tomorrow morning.” Then he turned to Ben, “Mr. Cumberbatch, I understand that you requested staying with her. You can stay in here, but you’ll have to use the chair. We can’t give you a bed.”

“That’s alright”, Ben said quickly, “I probably won’t sleep much anyway.”

He reached out and took Gemma’s hand and held it tightly. She held onto his just as tightly.

“Alright, well I’ll see if the police are here yet.”

Just then a nurse came into the room and nodded at the doctor. He smiled apologetically at Ben and said, “I guess they’re here already.”

He left the room, coming back a few minutes later with a couple policemen. They introduced themselves to Gemma and Ben, and then sat down to ask their questions.

A half hour later, the police were gone, and Ben had gone to find some tea for Gemma. She sat there thinking over the last half hour. She was pretty sure that the police knew who they were looking for. She was relieved at that thought, not just for herself but for Ben too. She knew he would have done something foolish if he had found them first.

Her lunch came just as Ben came back in. He helped her with her meal, and then let her relax and sleep for awhile. He wasn’t feeling tired, so he shot off a couple of texts to his PA and his agent. Then he decided to go in search of food himself. He found the same café that Tom and Alicia had found earlier. He ate quickly, wanting to be there when Gemma woke. When he entered her room he saw she was still sleeping, so he sat down and picked up a magazine, and flipped through it.

He nearly dropped the magazine when he heard Gemma moaning his name again. He swallowed hard thinking what he could do. He couldn’t go through what he had earlier. He glanced around the room, got up, went to the door, and looked down the hallway. No one coming, the nurses were busy with patients at the other end of the long hallway, and meal trays were still being removed down there as well. Gemma’s meal tray had already been removed, and it was quiet on this end. He closed the door softly, and locked it, walked over to the bed, sat on the edge, and touched Gemma’s shoulder. She woke with a gasp, still half moaning as she dragged herself to consciousness.

“Ben” she moaned. She needed him now. She reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him with intensity. He moaned, and pressed her down on the bed, kissing her hotly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing herself against him, feeling his hard need. She moaned again, rubbing her hot centre against him. He slowly pulled her hospital gown down to her waist.

His hands cupped and caressed her breasts, stopping to tease her nipples. She broke the kiss, throwing her head back, and moaning, arching up against him. His lips trailed down her exposed neck, making her shiver with pleasure. She was making needy little noises that drove him crazy. His tongue circled her nipple, and then he sucked it into his mouth. She gasped, and shuddered, writhing against him. He moved to her other nipple circling it before sucking it into his mouth. She moaned into his shoulder, not wanting to make too much noise.

She needed to feel him naked against her, on top of her, in her. She pulled his t-shirt off, slid her hands over his chest. He returned to her lips, kissing her deeply. Her fingers teased his nipples until he thought he’d go mad with it. Then her small hands stroked down over his belly to the top of his pants. She undid them quickly, greedy for the feel of his hard length in her palm. The most incredible moan came out of him when her hand closed around him. He was hot and incredibly hard, throbbing in her hand. She tightened her grip on him and he moaned, deep and dark, making her shiver. She started stroking him, loving the sounds she was wringing out of him.

She could feel his hands slide over her belly, pushing the hospital gown out of the way. His hands continued lower, lightly stroking her thighs. She opened them to him, inviting him to touch her.

She continued to stroke his throbbing erection, loving the feel of him, the sounds he made. She almost forgot how to breathe when she felt the whisper light touch between her thighs. She was panting now, as his long fingers slid into her panties, and touched the swollen bud. She bucked helplessly as his fingers continued to caress the sensitive bundle of nerves until she couldn’t think, she could only feel. His lips captured one of her nipples, and she arched up, toes curling as she felt the pleasure build, her hand tightening around him.

Two of his fingers slid into her, his thumb continuing to caress the sensitive bud. Her pleasure peaked then, and a white hot pleasure was searing through her as she came, her body shaking with the intensity of it. Then he reached down and covered her hand with his, stroking faster. Then he shuddered and moaned into her shoulder as he came, hot and fast, over their joined hands.

They lay like that for a few minutes catching their breath. Then Ben got up, went to her adjoining washroom, and cleaned himself up as well as he could. Then he went back to Gemma with the cloth, and carefully cleaned her hand. He helped her back into her hospital gown, did up his pants, put on his t-shirt, and unlocked her room door. Then he laid down with her again, holding her close.

They cuddled for awhile not saying anything, then Gemma started to giggle. Ben lifted his head and looked at her, smiling. He decided she must be feeling the “after sex euphoria“. He smiled, and kissed her cheek gently. “What?”

Finally, she calmed enough to say, “I think I like your way of looking after me better than the nurses.”

They both started giggling.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A nurse opened Gemma’s hospital room door and peaked in. She saw Ben and Gemma sleeping in each others arms, smiled, and quietly closed the door again. They slept on.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	8. More Pleasantries

Previously:  
Tom showed Alicia some of the touristy sights. They laughed, and talked, and greatly enjoyed each other’s company. They enjoyed the day and finally arrived back at Tom’s flat in the evening, full from dinner and slightly giggly from the wine they’d had with dinner. Alicia stumbled a little, and Tom reached out and caught her before she could fall. She wasn’t giggling anymore. She was facing Tom, pressed up against him, and without a word she reached up, pulled his head down, and kissed him.

Tom responded to her kiss, pulling her tighter against him. She moaned, deepening the kiss, their tongues touching and teasing. He slid his hands up her arms and pushed her coat off her shoulders. She dropped her arms, letting the coat fall to the floor. Then she was pulling off his coat, and undoing and pulling off his button down shirt. She slid her hands over his bare chest, teasing his nipples. He moaned deeply, and bent down, picked her up, and carried her to his bedroom.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Once in the bedroom, Tom set Alicia on her feet and took her lips in a deep, searing kiss, and she melted in his arms, returning the kiss, moaning softly. As he claimed her lips again and again, his hands slid up her back to grasp the zipper tab at the top and pull it down slowly. When the dress was open at the back, his hands slid in against her soft skin, and traced along her spine from bottom to top sending shivers of pleasure along her body, making her gasp. He pulled the dress from her shoulders and down to let it fall and pool at her feet, leaving her in her panties. Tom pulled her close feeling her bare breasts press against his chest, as he kissed her lips, her neck, her shoulders.

Alicia moaned, desperately needing him. She slid her hands down over his chest, stopping to tease his nipples again, listening to his moans. Then her hands moved lower to his trousers and undid the belt, then the button and zip. Once she had them open, she slid them off his hips to pool at his feet.

Tom surprised her by picking her up off her feet, making her squeal. Then he laid her on the bed, and was beside her quickly, leaning over her, pulling her against him. He needed to taste every inch of her, and proceeded to brush soft kisses across her skin leaving a fiery trail, making her moan and gasp and rub her heating centre against him. He moved lower to her breasts, his tongue teasing her nipple before sucking it into his mouth. She cried out and arched up against his mouth, writhing and crying out and moaning as he continued to suck hard. 

She could feel the heat building in her centre, making her rub against his very large and prominent erection. He moved to her other nipple, making her arch and moan and writhe again. His fingers stroked across her ribs and belly making her shiver and her skin prickle. When his fingers slid down into her panties to her overheated centre, she bucked, crying out. Cry after cry of pleasure were wrung from her as his fingers caressed the sensitive bud while his mouth continued to plunder her breasts. Alicia desperately needed him inside her, now.

“Tom, please…..”, she pleaded.

That was all the encouragement he needed. He pulled her panties off her, rising and standing to quickly pull off his own pants. Alicia ogled the beautiful slim form in front of her before he was back on the bed, reaching to the bedside drawer, pulling it open, and pulling out a condom. He quickly opened the packet, and rolled the condom on, and then he was back kissing her deeply.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, one leg sliding over his hip. He pressed her onto her back, sliding between her thighs, and on top of her. He lifted his head, looking down at her as he slid inside her. She gasped, arching up, taking him deep inside her, her inner muscles clenching tightly around his aching cock. He moaned, pressing hard into her, and then he starting thrusting slowly at first, but as she bucked and cried out and writhed under him, he thrust harder and harder.

Alicia could feel the heat pooling and building to an aching crescendo, and then when the pleasure became too much, she arched up against him, head thrown back, crying out as she came hard, her body shaking with the intensity. She heard Tom crying out above her, coming hard too. She moaned through spasm after delicious spasm until they finally subsided. Her legs slid from around Tom and he pulled out slowly and laid beside her, hugging her to him. They lay that way, catching their breath for a moment or two. Then he took off the condom, tied it off, and threw it in the bin by the bedside table. He pulled blankets over them both, and they fell asleep wrapped in each others arms.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben woke in the early morning, and realized he and Gemma had slept all night in each others arms. He smiled, knowing he wanted to wake up with her for the rest of his life. He slipped carefully from the bed and stood stretching, then winced as felt the uncomfortable feeling of his pants still slightly slick from the night before. He wished he could have a shower, and a toothbrush, and some clean clothes.

Just then a nurse bustled in, and smiled, seeing that he was awake. She spoke quietly, “These are the release papers if you would sign them. We can give her breakfast and let her go.”

“Actually, I’d like to take her home and feed her some breakfast there if that’s ok.”

“I’m afraid our policy is that the patient must eat breakfast before they’re released. I’m sorry.”

Ben knew that but had hoped they would be willing to look the other way, but apparently not. He nodded and asked, “Is it enough if she has some toast and tea?”

The nurse smiled, “Yes I think that would be sufficient.”

He nodded, and she left, shortly afterwards her breakfast tray arrived. He woke Gemma gently, and helped her sit up so she could eat. He smirked a little at her grumbling about being given just tea and toast when she was starving.

“I’m afraid that’s my fault. I asked them to give you just that so that I could give you a nice big breakfast at home.”

“Ooooo, that sounds lovely”, she said, and then proceeded to wolf down her tea and toast.

Then a nurse came in and helped her dress, and showed Ben how to best help her move around. He listened and watched intently, wanting to make sure he did everything right.

Finally, he was free to take Gemma home. He ran and got his car while Gemma waited inside the doors, and then helped her in. As they drove back to his house he talked to Gemma about some arrangements that had been made to make sure she was okay with them.

“Gemma, there’s some things I should talk to you about before we get back to the house.”

“Sure, honey, what did you have in mind?”

“I thought since my part of the house needs to be fixed up, that I would stay with you in the main floor flat”, he paused waiting for her reaction. He couldn’t watch her face when he was driving, he had to watch the road.

“That sounds great, but what about Alicia?”

“She is going to stay with Tom, and I will look after you, if that’s alright.”

She smiled, “I’m glad that Tom and Alicia have finally gotten together. She deserves some happiness.”

“So do you, my love. You deserve some happiness too”, Ben said, reaching out to give her hand a quick squeeze.

She smiled, happy in the knowledge that Ben really wanted to be the one to look after her. She felt a little trepidation that he might not realize what it was like to look out for a blind person. There were all sorts of things that people didn’t think about that could injure a blind person easily.

Ben’s PA had organized all his personal belongings in the storage room, and had his clothes hung up in Gemma’s room. He smiled when he saw this as he helped Gemma into her room.

Gemma paused, “Ben I would really love to have a shower.”

Ben looked at the cast on her leg, did some calculations, and said, “Okay, I’ll just help you into the bathroom first.” 

It was a bit of a struggle for them to get into the bathroom, and Gemma sat on the toilet seat while Ben ran the water and got it to the right temperature. She quickly stripped off her top, and bra while he was doing that, and when he turned around and saw her half naked. He thought she was beautiful and perfect, and he swallowed, trying hard not to stare any more. 

He helped her stand, and with some effort got her jeans and panties off. When she was naked, he helped her to get into the tub and propped her leg with the cast on the edge of the tub, cushioned by a folded towel. Then he grabbed the shower handle thanking god that he had thought to have a hand held showerhead put in. He quickly wet her down, handed the handle to Gemma to hold, while he foamed up a bath puff with body wash, and proceeded to wash her down, and then took back the shower handle and carefully rinsed her off. He knew washing her hair would be more difficult, and he could see she was already having difficulty standing in the awkward position any longer.

He wrapped a big, fluffy towel around her, and helped her out.

“I think I should have you kneel on the floor in front of the tub and lean over the edge of it, so I can wash your hair.”

“Okay, but I’ll need your help, and I think you’ll need to be quick about it. I don’t think I’ll be able to kneel for long.”

“Alright”, he said, and helped her onto the floor. She leaned over the edge of the tub and Ben quickly washed her hair. He helped her up and grabbed another towel, and dried her hair for her, and then quickly dried the rest of her off, trying not to look at her naked body more than he had to. Then he helped her into a clean nightie, and helped her into bed, and went to the kitchen to make the promised breakfast.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma decided that Ben was a good cook. The breakfast was delicious. He had eaten with her in her bedroom from trays. She reflected that he was trying very hard to be everything for her. He didn’t know that he was already her everything. She laid back and relaxed in bed while Ben cleared away the breakfast dishes and had a shower himself. He walked back into Gemma’s room to find her asleep once again. He moved quietly out of the room, and decided to wash the dishes. 

That done he wandered into the sitting room, looking at the books on the shelves. He saw braille books and regular books too. He saw that all of Gemma’s books were there, and picked one up, deciding to read it. He sat and quickly got absorbed in it. The book was quite good. He enjoyed it immensely. When he came to a part where the two characters made love for the first time, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He kept picturing doing all those things with Gemma. As he read on, he realized that these were essentially her dreams and desires.

The lovemaking was incredibly hot and passionate, as he knew she was herself. He smiled to himself, thinking.

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Alicia woke in Tom’s arms, smiling and happy. She glanced at the clock and realized that she and Tom had slept past the time when Gemma was going to be released. She spotted her mobile on the bedside table where she had left it earlier in the day, and reached over and opened it. There was a text from Ben letting her know that he and Gemma were back at the flat. She sighed, and snuggled in closer to Tom, intent on relishing some cuddling. He sighed, and snuggled closer and slept on. Alicia fell asleep again too.

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	9. Ben and Gemma

Hi, sorry about taking so long to update. I really had some troubles figuring out where I wanted to take this story. Hope you enjoy!

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Gemma woke to find her head on Ben’s chest and his arms wrapped around her. She knew it was Ben because she knew the wonderful male smell of him by now. She snuggled closer, wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her nose into his neck, and breathed deeply and sighed. Her head started bouncing when he started chuckling.

“What?”, Gemma asked, smiling.

“When you sighed, it ruffled the hair on my chest, and it tickled.”

Gemma blew lightly across his chest, and he chuckled again, turning on his side facing her. He stopped chuckling when he saw the open, loving expression on her face. His fingers traced along one eyebrow, across her cheek, down her nose, along her jaw to her chin, brushed lightly across her bottom lip, and just when she thought he would kiss her, his fingers brushed along her neck. She swallowed, feeling her skin prickle where he touched.

He brushed her hair back, and leaned in and kissed her neck, she gasped as pleasure seared through her, and her head fell back exposing more of her neck. His lips continued to brush along her neck making her moan softly, her fingers carding through his silky hair, her other hand sliding around to his back. She could feel his muscles flex under the light t-shirt he wore. Ben kissed along the underside of her jaw, across her cheek, and then she felt his lips brush hers lightly. Each touch of their lips became firmer and more demanding. Gemma felt his tongue flick across her lower lip and she gasped parting hers, inviting him in. Their tongues slid together as the kiss deepened and became more passionate. When they finally broke the kiss, they were panting and pressed against one another.

“Ben” she said softly against his lips, “make love to me.”

Ben realized in that moment that he hadn’t thought to grab any condoms from the boxes he had in her storage room.

Ben pulled back from those delicious lips, “Gemma, I think I left the condoms in one of my boxes in your storage room.”

“I need you now, Ben”, she moaned, moving against him again.

The contact left him breathless for a moment, struggling for self control.

“And what about your concussion….” he started.

“I don’t have any headaches. I’ll be fine.”

“Gemma, love….”, he started.

“Please, Ben”, she begged.

Hearing her beg, crumbled his self control, and he took her lips in another kiss. She was expecting it to be hard and passionate, but was surprised by soft kisses instead. He pulled her nightie off and touched her silky skin, his hands and mouth leaving fiery trails across her body as he caressed and kissed and nibbled. Ben moved slowly tasting and savouring every inch of Gemma, making her moan again and again. When he moved to her nipples, she gasped and cried out, arching up to press against his maddening mouth. He continued to tease her nipples until she was beyond words and panting.

She needed to feel him naked against her this time, and started tugging his t-shirt up. He moved to pull it off the rest of the way, and was back taking her lips in a deep kiss, leaving her breathless. Then she was pulling his sleep pants down over his hips until she couldn’t reach any farther. He quickly pulled them off the rest of the way. When he moved back to her, she pressed against him, the skin on skin contact making them both gasp. She moaned, rubbing against him, and gasping when she felt his hot, hard erection against her overheated sex.

Her hands greedily slid over his chest, teasing his nipples, making him moan. Then she moved on to his back, feeling the muscles there move and flex under the soft, smooth skin. She desperately needed him now, and reached down to grab his arse with both hands, pulling him tight against her. She kept pulling until he was on top of her, her legs wrapped around him, her hands enveloping his aching cock, guiding him to her slick opening. He thrust into her, making her cry out, and buck up to take him deep inside her, her inner muscles clenching tightly around his hard need. He groaned deeply, and started thrusting slowly, letting the pleasure build and build until neither one could hold back any more. Then he was thrusting harder, faster, making her buck wildly, and writhe, and moan under him. She knew she wouldn’t last much longer.

“Harder Ben”, she gasped.

That was all it took for him to loose control completely and started thrusting hard and deep, making her cry out again and again until she felt herself going over the edge. Her inner muscles clenched tighter around his aching cock, her head fell back, and then she was coming so hard she was screaming, her body shaking with the intensity. That pushed Ben over the edge, screaming into her shoulder as he came. She held him deep inside her as she moaned through wave after wave of pleasurable aftershocks. Finally they lay still for a few moments, catching their breath. Then slowly Ben pulled out and lay beside Gemma, pulling her into his arms. They lay there cuddling for a long time. Eventually Gemma fell asleep, and Ben smiled and closed his eyes drifting off to sleep himself.

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Ben woke a little while later to a throbbing on the back of his thigh. He slipped carefully from bed and stood, moving to the other bedroom in hopes of not waking Gemma. He walked around trying to work out the ache. He assumed it was a charlie horse, but he knew he hadn’t had one of those since he first started in athletics years ago. He frowned, thinking what it could be. He bent down to rub his thigh, and flinched at how tender it was. He stood, moved to the standing mirror in the corner of the room, and turned to have a look. He was surprised to see a large bruise there, and it took only a moment for him to realize that it was from Gemma’s cast.

He quickly determined that it wasn’t severe, so icing it, and wrapping it in a compression bandage would help it heal quickly. He would have to find other positions at least until Gemma was out of the cast. That reminded him that if they were to continue making love he needed to find the condoms.

In the storage room, he quickly searched through the boxes and couldn’t find them. It was odd that his PA hadn’t packed them for him. He wondered if they had been left in his flat. He would go up to his flat later and check.

That decided, he moved back to Gemma’s room. She was moving and restless, and he quickly realized that her leg was hurting. Of course their earlier activities would have aggravated her broken leg, he should have known better.

He quickly grabbed a glass of water and a paracetamol, the only pain medication the doctor would allow. He sat on the edge of the bed, wincing again, and gently woke Gemma. She woke and he helped her sit up, then handed her the pill and water, saying, “For the pain, love.” Once she had swallowed that, he settled her back again, and stayed with her, holding her until the pill took effect and she drifted off to sleep again. Then he moved to pick up his sleep pants and t-shirt, pulled them both on, and went in search of an ice pack and compression bandage.

He found the wrap in one of his boxes in the storage room, and then went to the kitchen to look for a make shift ice pack. He found a bag of frozen peas, wrapped them in a towel, and sat on the couch, grabbing the book he’d been reading earlier. 20 minutes later he took the bag of peas off his leg, and wrapped the bandage around his thigh. It was feeling better already. He knew he would have to be careful not to strain it for a few days.

He went to check on Gemma, thankfully she was sound asleep and comfortable. It occurred to him to check the drawer in the bedside table thinking maybe his supply of condoms had been put there. He pulled the drawer open and there they were. Well that was good. His PA was just as efficient, if not more so, as he thought. He knew he should have looked in such an obvious place. Gemma didn’t need a pregnancy right now, on top of all the other things she was dealing with. He wondered if she was on birth control pills. He supposed with her cancer diagnosis 2 years before that she would have been taken off them, more than likely wouldn’t be allowed to go back on them. He knew it was a known fact, that birth control pills make women who are fighting cancer more susceptible to it. He would have to ask Gemma, or maybe he could talk to Alicia, to be sure.

Just then his tummy growled and he realized that it was now late afternoon. He knew he needed to make something for them both to eat. He took stock of what food was in the kitchen, and found that the girls must have done some shopping recently. It occurred to him that it was probably the day that Gemma was injured. He pushed any more thoughts about that out of his mind. He knew it wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it.

He busied himself moving around the kitchen making some dinner for the two of them, taking frequent rests for his leg. When it was ready, he carried two plates into the bedroom on a tray, and set the tray on the dresser, and moved to wake Gemma. He realized that she was still naked, her nightie still on the floor, but decided to leave that for now. Let her eat, get some paracetamol in her, and then he would worry about the nightie.

They enjoyed their meal together. It was delicious, and Gemma decided Ben was a good cook. Afterwards Gemma settled back in bed, relaxing, as Ben moved out of the room with their plates on a tray. He was walking funny, she could hear the difference in his walk. She assumed he’d pulled or strained a muscle during their lovemaking. She smiled and stretched, wincing when her leg gave a twinge. She stopped, and realized that it must have been her cast that injured his leg. She felt bad that she probably was the cause of his injury. She figured that the best thing was to find different positions that would work for both of them. She smiled thinking that she would look forward to the experimenting. 

The pain started in her leg again, and just then Ben was back with another paracetamol and water. She took it and laid back, knowing it would make her sleepy soon.

Ben moved to the kitchen, washing dishes and putting them away. That done, he settled back on the couch and quickly got engrossed in the book he‘d been reading earlier.

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Gemma woke, and knew she had to go to the bathroom quite badly. She listened closely to see if she could hear Ben, but the flat was silent. She figured he must have gone out for something, maybe to get his leg checked. She really needed to go badly, and decided to attempt to walk with the cast on. The doctor didn’t want her walking on it yet, but she figured she could make it to the bathroom and back and no one would be the wiser. 

Gemma sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, and stood gingerly on the cast. There was pain but not too much. It might ache for a while after she got back to bed, but she was still determined to go. She knew the flat from memory, so she moved cautiously forward. She took a step, then another, and then another. There was twinges from her injured leg but she kept moving anyway. Just then her cast caught on something and, arms flailing, she fell with a resounding crash. The pain that shot through her leg as she fell was excruciating, and she cried out. Then she heard bare feet running down the hallway.

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Ben was happily engrossed in the book, when he heard a crash and a cry of pain. Gemma. Book flung aside, he jumped up and raced down the hallway, and when he entered her bedroom he saw her laying on the floor holding her leg and whimpering, her nightie caught around her cast. He moved forward quickly, and knelt down by Gemma.

“Love, are you alright?” Then he mentally gave himself a kick. Of course, she wasn’t all right. He quickly untangled her nightie from the cast and put it on the dresser nearby.

“Ben” she whimpered, clearly in pain. She reached out for him and he took her in his arms and gathered her close. She buried her head in his shoulder and continued to whimper, feeling her cheeks getting wet. She knew she was crying, but at that moment didn’t care. Her leg was hurting so badly.

Ben held her and gently rubbed her back, acutely aware of her being naked and berating himself for thinking of such a thing at that moment. He should have put her nightie on for her again, or at least picked it up off the floor. He looked at her injured leg, he should really take her to the hospital and have it checked to make sure the broken bones hadn’t moved when she fell. He gently picked her up and laid her on the bed, continuing to hold her while he called the hospital. The doctor was still there and had Ben do a couple things to check for any further injury to the leg. Ben reported back to the doctor when he did each test, and the doctor told him that there didn’t seem to be any further injury.

“Just give her some paracetamol and it should stop aching, if it doesn’t then you need to bring her in.”

“I gave her some just a couple hours ago. Is it okay to give her more?”

“How many did you give her?”

“Just one.”

“Has she had any more today?”

“Yes, she’s had two today?”

“How far apart?”

“The first one about five hours ago and the second one about two hours ago.”

“Okay. It’s safe to take up to six per day. It’s 7 o’clock now, so I’d like you to give her one now, then give her another one in two hours. She should sleep through the night. Then check and see how her leg is feeling in the morning. If you see any blue colouring on her leg or foot, or if the cast feels unusually tight for her, or she’s still experiencing a lot of pain, then get her here immediately.”

“Okay thank you doctor.”

Ben hung up and laid Gemma back on the bed. “I’m just going to get some more paracetamol. I’ll be right back.”

He left and returned quickly with the pills and a bottle of water, deciding to keep them on the bedside table for easier access. He helped Gemma take a pill, then helped her into her nightie again. He felt terrible about leaving it on the floor, he should have known better.

When she was somewhat comfortable, he asked her, “what were you out of bed for, love?”

“I had to go and I couldn’t hear anything. I thought you had gone out. I really had to go badly. I couldn’t wait. I still do.”

Yes he should have realized after the meal and water she would need to.

“Alright, love. I’m going to carry you to the washroom so you don’t strain your leg anymore, ok?”

She nodded, looking guilty. He picked her up slowly, careful not to jar her leg, and moved to the washroom. He set her down, and stepped out, closing the door, assuring her that he would stand by the door and wait for her to tell him when she was done.

When she was done, he carried her back to bed, and told her to call for him first if he wasn’t beside her from now on. She nodded again, already looking sleepy. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, and then took a step and felt the throb in his thigh. Damn, he’d forgotten in the panic that he was injured as well. He limped heavily to the kitchen and this time found some ice, which he wrapped in the same towel as the frozen peas had been in earlier, and iced his aching thigh again.

He wasn’t in the mood to read now, so he just sat and thought. Images of Gemma moaning and writhing while they made love earlier flashed through his mind. He hummed as the images continued to run through his mind. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they closed, and he slept.

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Three hours later, Ben was shaking himself awake. He hadn’t even realized that he’d fallen asleep. He sat up and looked at the clock. He had slept for three hours. He felt the cool wet spot on the couch and realized that he’d fallen asleep with the ice on his leg. He carefully undid the compression bandage, wet now, and checked his leg. Yes it was better. The bruising would take a few days to go away, he stood and stretched his leg, and winced. Not because of his leg, it was fine, but because he was incredibly hard. He touched the front of his tenting pajamas pants and hissed. Wow, he’d have to stop thinking about Gemma before he slept. He stepped cautiously, his leg was okay still. He’d sleep without anything on it for the evening, but what was he going to do about his aching erection. He didn’t want to wank with thoughts of Gemma again. She’d said she wanted to “help him” the next time, but he wasn’t about to ask her to do anything like that right now.

He decided to at least give her the last paracetamol, and then figure out what to do about it after that. So he walked awkwardly to the bedroom, gave her the pill, and settled her back again. To his relief the painful erection went down on it’s own. He decided to crawl into bed with Gemma and get some sleep.

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A/N: The pain pills Ben gives Gemma is known as Acetaminophen or Tylenol in Canada, USA, and Japan, and is known as Paracetamol to the rest of the world.

Thank you for reading and following the story.


	10. Fallout

Tom woke first, and lay still snuggling with Alicia, as he gradually left sleep behind. Once fully awake, he remembered that they were going to meet Ben at the hospital to pick up Gemma. He saw the mobile still in Alicia’s hand. He managed to take it out of her hand without waking her. He checked her text messages, assuming that was why it was in her hand. He saw the text from Ben. Well they wouldn’t need to worry about returning to the hospital. He set the phone on the bedside table.

He carefully untangled himself from Alicia’s arms and quietly made his way into the bathroom and got into the shower. He stood under the warm spray enjoying the feel of it on his shoulders. He sighed, feeling happy. He thought about Alicia and how he had grown to care for her so quickly. He was pretty sure she cared just as much about him as well. He reached for his shampoo and his hand touched another hand. Startled, he turned his head to see Alicia stepping into the shower naked. He felt excitement sweep through him, and knew he was starting to get hard.

Alicia stepped forward, sliding her arms around his waist, saying “Mmmm I see you’re happy to see me”, she smiled teasingly, and Tom blushed. There was no way he could hide it. He slid his arms around her, bringing her close, pressing against her. She gasped at the contact. “I’d say you were hoping I would be, considering you got in the shower with me”, he said against her lips, before kissing her.

She moaned softly, pressing full length against Tom, relishing the feel of his rapidly hardening cock, feeling the heat growing at her centre. As they kissed, she reached down and took his hard need in her hand and slowly stroked him into full hardness, enjoying the sound of his moans. She could feel her center heating more quickly in response.

She pulled back and said, “I’ll wash your hair”, as she reached for the shampoo. She squirted some on one hand and gently massaged it into his hair, then had him tilt his head back to rinse it out, staring at his long neck. Then did the same with the conditioner. She couldn’t hold out any longer and leaned in kissing his neck, feeling the vibrations of his soft moans under her lips. Then she soaped up her hands and slowly slid her hands over every inch of him, paying special attention to his nipples, until they were hard little nubs, enjoying all the incredible sounds coming out of him. By now, he had to put his hands on the shower walls to steady himself. Then she moved down to his hard cock, stroking it with her slick hand. She loved hearing his moans, his breathing getting heavy and ragged. She watched his face as she pleasured him, and felt her center getting more heated. She was getting seriously aroused watching Tom come apart. 

She squeezed her hand a little tighter and started stroking him faster. His eyes were closed, head tilted back, pleasure written all over his face. Her thumb slid over the head of his cock and across the slit, making him gasp and groan loudly. He was so close already. She was stroking him quicker, teasing his nipples. He couldn’t hold on any longer, and came with a shout, his warm seed spilling over her hand, some getting as far as her stomach. She wrapped one arm around him, continuing to hold his swiftly flagging erection, until he stopped moaning, then gently rinsed him off while he caught his breath.

“Now it’s your turn”, he said moving her under the shower spray. Reaching for the shampoo, he gently massaged it into her hair, then tilted her head to rinse it out. He worked conditioner into her hair and rinsed again. Then, seeing her anticipation, soaped up his hands and slid them slowly over her body, leaving a fiery trail behind. He caressed her breasts, teasing her nipples, listening to her moans. His hands slid over her belly and hips, and down between her legs to her overheating center, caressing the sensitive bud there as she gasped and moaned with pleasure. His other hand continued to caress her breasts, teasing the nipples. Her breathing was getting heavy and ragged, as he continued to pleasure her. His fingers moved quicker listening as her moans and gasps turned into cries of pleasure. She was leaning against him for support now, Tom supporting her with one arm as his other hand continued to caress between her legs. She was getting close, so close. Suddenly she gasped and was crying out as she came. He held her in his arms as she came down from the high and her breathing slowed. Once he was sure she could stand without his help he gently rinsed her off. Then he stepped out of the shower, guiding her out with him. He grabbed a couple fluffy towels and they quickly dried off, stealing little kisses.

They made their way to the bedroom, kissing all the way. Then got in the bed again and cuddled and kissed. Alicia fell back to sleep in Tom’s warm arms.

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Tom didn’t fall asleep, but lay holding Alicia as she slept. He felt tired, but couldn’t sleep even though he knew he’d be really tired when he got home. He knew he had to leave her to go back to the movie he was working on. He desperately wanted to stay with her, but the thought of Alicia being here to greet him made him happy. He smiled thinking that he’d love to have that for the rest of his life. He looked at the clock and saw it was already time for him to get up and get ready for work. He slid his arms from around Alicia slowly, careful not to wake her, then got out of bed and dressed, and wrote a note which he laid on the nightstand beside her and left quietly.

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Benedict woke the next morning to his phone buzzing on his night stand. He got up, grabbed it, and quickly limped to the sitting room to answer it.

“Hello”

“Hi, Ben”, it was his PA, his heart sank, already knowing what she was going to say, “listen I was trying to get you out of going on the press junket for “Star Trek” but they insist you come along because you’re one of the main characters. I’m really sorry.”

Ben sighed, running his free hand through his hair, “It’s alright I shouldn’t have tried to get out of it. When do I have to go?”

“Today at 2:30. They want the cast to be at the first stop the night before, and then you’ll be travelling each night to the next stop the night before.”

Ben looked at the clock. It was 10 a.m. so he had time to have breakfast with Gemma and call Alicia and let her know. It meant he wouldn’t be around for Gemma’s surgery as he had wanted to be. He knew she would be disappointed. He’d have to really try to make it back as quickly as he could.

He set his phone down, staring at the floor, his mind going through the hectic schedule that press junkets always were. They’d be going to a lot of countries in two weeks. He’d be back in London while Gemma was still in hospital. He knew she would be having surgery on one eye and then two days later surgery on the other one. Alicia would keep him up to date with the surgeries, and so would Tom.

“Ben?”

He jumped when he heard Gemma calling him, and quickly walked to the bedroom, hoping she wouldn’t be trying to walk without help again.

He entered the bedroom to see her sitting up in bed. “Right here love”, he said, and quickly moved to sit beside her on the bed. She reached for his hand and entwined their fingers.

“What was the call about?”

“It was my PA. She tried to get me out of going on the press junket for the Star Trek movie, but they’re insisting that I come as I am one of the main characters”, he looked at their joined hands, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, “I am so sorry, I really wanted to be here with you for your surgeries.”

“Oh, you’re going to be away for that long?”, she looked sad, her shoulders slumping down, looking dejected.

He hated seeing that and lightly squeezing her hand, he said, “I can’t even call you because we’ll be constantly moving from country to country. I should be back while you’re still in hospital though.”

Her shoulders lifted a little, “Really?”. She was smiling now.

He smiled, even though he knew she couldn’t see it, “Yes really.”

She smiled brightly, and he leaned forward and hugged her, kissing her cheek. Then he drew back, “I’ll get us some breakfast and then I’ll have to shower and pack. I’ll have to be ready for when the car comes to take me to the airport this afternoon.”

“You’re leaving today?”

“I’m sorry love”, he apologized again, “I really wanted to stay here with you. Now I’ll go get that breakfast.”

He left to make them both breakfast, only realizing after he had everything for them both on a tray that he hadn’t asked how her leg felt today. God he felt like a terrible boyfriend.

He took the tray to the bedroom and they ate together and talked. He made sure to ask Gemma how her leg felt, and she had said it was fine. It was just a little achy, but not painful anymore. When they were done, he cleared the dishes away to the kitchen, making sure to quickly wash them. Then he quickly called Alicia who answered, sounding groggy, and quickly explained about the change of plans. To her credit, she was alert quickly and said she’d be over as quickly as she could.

Then Ben moved back to the bedroom intending on showering and packing. When he entered and saw Gemma sitting in bed still, he quickly changed his plans, and said, “How about I get you into a shower, love. I’m sure you’d like to get cleaned up.”

“Yes that would be lovely.”

He helped her up and into the bathroom, and helped her shower as he had done before. When she was done, and dried off he helped her back to the bedroom and sat her on the chair to grab some clean clothes for her, and helped her dress. She told him to leave her in the chair to look after her hair. He did so, looking around to make sure there was nothing on the floor for her to trip over again, and went and showered himself.

Once he was dressed and packed, he thought he better change Gemma’s bedding before Alicia got there. He found a linen closet in the hallway with clean sheets, and grabbing a set quickly changed the bed, talking with his love about what he’d be doing and how many countries he’d be going through, and such. He made sure to tell her he’d try to call her at least a couple times.

He helped Gemma to the sitting room, and got her comfortable with a book, and moved his small travel bag over by the door. He looked around and decided to grab another one of the books Gemma had written, to take with him. He didn’t think it likely that he’d have time to read a lot, but it would make him feel closer to her while he was gone.

Alicia arrived right then, and quick explanations all around had each of them up to date with what was going on, and then Ben kissed and hugged Gemma good bye, and left.

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Tom received a text from Alicia to call her when he could, and during one of his breaks did so. He was quickly informed of what was happening, and made arrangements to go to the cousins’ flat after he finished work. He would stop by his flat and grab a change of clothes so he could at least spend the night with her.

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Alicia checked the food supplies and found she would need to pick up more groceries. Gemma had decided to stay behind, and continue to read. She had her recorder by her side, in case she had an idea for her next book.

The cousin quickly did the shopping, and headed back to the flat. She didn’t like leaving her injured cousin for too long on her own. When she arrived back at the flat, she found Gemma engrossed in recording some basics for a new story. Alicia didn’t interrupt, although her cousin did acknowledge that she’d heard her come in. After putting the groceries away, she sat with her cousin in the sitting room, and listened to the outline of the new story. It sounded like it would be a good one.

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Tom was tired but elated as he quickly packed an overnight bag, and headed off to the cousins’ flat. He would still get to see his beautiful Alicia, it didn’t matter where they were.

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Ben was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open as he settled into bed. It was the first of many stops, and he wanted to get all the rest he could. He desperately missed Gemma, wishing she were with him. He just kept telling himself that the time would fly by quickly and in no time he’d be back with his love again. He laid his head down and was fast asleep.

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Gemma, Alicia, and Tom had a lively conversation that evening over dinner at the flat. He helped make it while talking with the girls. It was a fun evening and soon they were heading off to bed. He got comfortable in Alicia’s room while she helped her cousin. Once she was in her room with the door closed, Tom pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. They didn’t make love that night, deciding not to make Gemma uncomfortable if one on them made noise, and instead got into bed and snuggled close and fell asleep.

Gemma missed Ben terribly. She wanted to be in his arms, snuggling like they had the previous night. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, refusing to let herself get too sad. Ben would be back before she knew it.

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The next few days were so hectic that Ben didn’t have time to call Gemma. He was missing her and really wanted to hear her voice. He would just have to find the time soon. He had to do one on one interviews with magazines from some of the countries too. So he found himself having to share his dinner with some of the interviewers while they asked their questions. A couple of the female interviewers were, he felt, a little overly flirtatious. He was glad his PA was with him to keep the interviews from getting too long.

With one such interview, his PA had left the table for a few moments to make some arrangements, and the female interviewer sitting with him had tried asking him out on a date, her hand migrating to his leg. He had just politely declined, pulling back from her touch, and just managing to stop himself in time from saying that he was taken. He didn’t feel the need to share any of his private life with these vultures.

The female interviewer was a little miffed that she obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, and left shortly afterward in a huff. His PA returned to the table shortly after, and they discussed the lineup for the next few days.

Ben hadn’t noticed the fan girl who had surreptitiously taken a picture of him and the female interviewer with her camera phone.

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Alicia was looking at the picture in the paper feeling absolutely horrified. It was a picture of Ben with a very pretty woman having dinner, and she had her hand on his leg. The caption read that it was a picture taken by a fan with a camera phone of “Benedict and a mysterious woman, was this a new secret girlfriend”.

She got up and threw the paper in the garbage, disgusted. She really thought Ben had cared about Gemma. She felt responsible for having pushed them together thinking that they would hit it off. Now she realized she had only created more heartache for her cousin. She steeled herself to tell her cousin about the picture and help her through the ordeal. She would ask Tom not to come around for a day or two, not wanting him to witness the fallout.

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A/N: Well Ben has gotten into a real bind and can’t even be there to fix the problem. What will happen next?


	11. Surgery

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting another chapter. I have been battling with flu and not feeling like writing. Hope you enjoy.

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Alicia was heading for her cousin’s bedroom to tell her about the picture of Ben, when she suddenly stopped walking. She stood in the hallway as she remembered all the times Ben and Gemma were together, how he looked at her, all the time they spent together. She knew Ben and Gemma were in love. She knew Ben from the time the four of them spent together. This wasn’t like Ben at all.

She turned around, went back, and retrieved the paper from the garbage, and took a closer look at the picture. Yes, she could see it now, the pinched lips, the flared nostrils, Ben looked angry. She decided to hold off saying anything to her cousin until she could find out a little more. Besides Gemma was scheduled to have the first surgery in two days, she really didn’t need any more to worry about right now. She set the paper on the sitting room table deciding to hold onto it for now.

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Tom saw the picture of Ben in the paper, and grabbed his phone to call Alicia. He needed to make sure that they knew what that picture was really all about. He quickly dialled and Alicia picked up on the second ring.

“Hi Tom” she said brightly, excited to hear from him.

“Hi love”, he said, smiling at her joy at hearing from him, “listen can we talk for a minute?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Make sure Gemma can’t hear you.”

“Sure”, she said hesitantly. She walked to the kitchen and closed the door. “Ok, what is it you didn’t want her to hear.”

“Have you seen the paper today?”

“Yes”, she said, swallowing convulsively, “the one with the picture of Ben and a woman?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Does Gemma know about it yet?”

“No, I didn’t want to tell her right away. She’s got surgery in a couple days, and I figured she didn’t need that on top of the stress she’s feeling right now”, she paused, drew a deep breath, then said, “Besides I know how much Ben loves her, and it just doesn’t seem like him to do something like that.”

Tom breathed a sigh of relief, “Good because there’s something you need to know about the woman in the picture.”

“Oh? What would that be?” Alicia said, trying to keep her tone light.

“That woman in the photo with Ben is an interviewer from L.A. She’s always trying to get into the pants of every actor she interviews. She’s a shark. I’ve had to deal with her once myself.”

Alicia felt a momentary flare of jealousy, then she stomped it down. Tom sounded like he disliked this woman.

He continued, “Everyone in the entertainment business knows about this woman, but she keeps her job somehow anyway. Ben’s had to deal with her in the past, and I know he really dislikes her. She even tried it on with Martin Freeman and he’s got a wife and kids, but he shut her down pretty quick. She won’t interview him anymore.”

“Wow”, she said, feeling great relief, “she sounds like a real piranha.”

“That’s a good word for that one. Anyways, I wanted to make sure you knew what that picture was really about. I don’t know if you would have noticed, but the picture was actually published by that “piranha’s” paper. She’s just trying to get some mileage out of it. I’m sure Ben’s agents have already contacted the paper to press them to retract it.”

“Good. I was pretty sure it wasn’t what it seemed, but I’m glad that you called to clear it up.”

“So” Tom said, hesitant now, “are you doing anything today?”

“Well I don’t really have anything special planned”, she was smiling, “did you have something in mind?”

“I wondered if you girls would like a horse and carriage ride today.”

“Oooo that would be lovely, the fresh air would do us all some good, and I’m sure it would help take Gemma’s mind off the surgery.”

“Good I’ll pick you both up in about an hour and we’ll have a lovely ride.”

“Sounds wonderful. See you then.” Alicia hung up excited at the prospect of seeing Tom. She opened the kitchen door, and set the phone in it’s cradle in the sitting room. She spotted the paper on the table and grabbed it, took one last look at it, smirked, and threw it in the garbage. Put the “trash” in the trash she thought to herself, and turned to head down the hall.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben was staring at the picture in the paper, horrified. He couldn’t swallow around the lump in his throat. Oh god he didn’t need Alicia to see that picture and tell Gemma. He stomach clenched at the thought. He needed to call and try to explain that picture, but he needed to call his agents first.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia got one step away from the phone when it rang again. She frowned and picked it up, “Hello.”

“Hi Alicia, it’s Ben.”

“Oh hi Ben. It’s so nice to hear from you. Did you want to talk to Gemma?”

“I’d like to talk to you first.”

“Ok, but maybe I should just tell you that I’ve seen the picture in the paper already” she said, Ben held his breath as she continued, “And I know it was a reporter who is known for being a man shark, and that it was her paper that published it.”

Ben paused, surprised, how did she know that. She must have been reading his thoughts because she said, “Tom called and told me all about her. I can’t believe the crazy people actors have to put up with.”

Ben sighed, relieved, “Yeah she’s one of the worst ones. I had my PA with me, but she had stepped away from the table for a moment and that’s when she made her play. My agents had a talk with the owner of the paper, and it will all be retracted.”

“Good, I’m glad. These reporters need to learn some restraint, and learn where to draw the line.”

“Neither she nor the paper she works for has any restraint whatsoever. Their line was blurred a long time ago. She won’t be allowed to interview me anymore though. I think she’s going to find herself on a different column altogether actually.”

“She shouldn’t be allowed to keep her job, but I suppose she’d just find another paper or magazine to work at.”

“You’re right about that. She probably will anyway. However I’ve let my agents know that she isn’t to be allowed near me anymore.”

“I’m glad you took that precaution”, she paused, “but enough about that. Did you want to talk to Gemma now?”

“Yes I would love to talk to her.”

“Okay hold on a minute while I take the phone to her.”

Alicia walked quickly to Gemma’s room with the phone. When she entered, Gemma was sitting at her table brushing her hair.

“Hey cousin, there’s a special guy on the phone who wants to talk to you”, she said teasingly.

Gemma’s face lit up at that, “Ben” she squealed, and reached out her hand for the phone. Alicia placed it in her hand, and left the room, closing the door, wanting to give the two lovebirds some privacy.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben hung up the phone, smiling to himself. He’d have to call and thank Tom for calling and straightening out that whole thing. It could have been far worse. He was elated after talking to Gemma. He felt light again. He jumped up and headed for the door. Just then his phone rang, and he stopped to answer it. It was Tom.

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The next two days were hectic for Ben, and he was horribly tired. He just wanted to be done with this already. He made sure that there wasn’t anything else important coming up. He was delighted to discover that his PA had managed to clear his schedule, except for an appearance on “Graham Norton”, but that was okay. He could stay in London still and that was just a one night thing, so that would be okay. It would be after Gemma’s surgeries. Maybe they could watch it together when it aired.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom took the girls on a delightful horse and carriage ride. They meandered through parks, and trotted along the edge of the Thames, Alicia describing everything to Gemma all the way. It was an enjoyable day and had served to take their minds off the impending surgeries. They dined at a nice quiet little spot Tom knew about, and took the girls back to the flat. Tom stayed the night in Alicia’s room. They just cuddled again, not wanting to do anything that Gemma would overhear. Alicia was okay with that, but was starting to feel a need for Tom that she knew she wouldn’t be able to repress for very long. She wanted to wait until Gemma was done with the surgeries before she stayed at Tom’s though. She would feel better if Ben was with her too. The police still hadn’t caught the criminals who had broken into Ben’s flat and hurt Gemma. It scared Alicia that they were still out there somewhere.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The plane circled, and landed, letting off tired looking passengers. Ben was the exception. He always looked alert and ready to go. He and his PA quickly went through security and went straight to the waiting car. His PA would take his bag back to his house and deposit it in the girl’s flat while he went to the hospital to see Gemma. He felt a little nervous. He wondered what she would think of him now that she could see him. He didn’t think much of himself. He’d been looking at the same face all his life and he just couldn’t see what his fans could see. All he could see was that he had a long face, and a long neck. He saw all the imperfections not just in his face, but, he felt, in his character too. He didn’t think of himself as good looking or sexy, no matter what his fans said.

He quickly made his way to the elevator, knowing what room Gemma was in from talking with Alicia. Gemma’s first surgery had been a success, and now was waiting for the second one. It would be tomorrow morning. He knew it was late, but he really wanted to see her, touch her, kiss her sweet lips, feel her warmth close to him.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia was sitting by Gemma’s bed watching her cousin sleep. She looked up when Ben walked in, and smiled, standing up. She touched her finger to her lips, letting Ben know to be quiet. He walked silently over, and looked at his Gemma. She had a plastic eye shield taped over one eye. She was sleeping soundly, little sighs coming out. She was dreaming. He wondered if it was about him.

Alicia gestured to the door, and they stepped out to the hallway, closing the door behind them.

“Sorry, Ben. I didn’t want to wake her. They’ve given her a pill to help relax her, and she’s only been sleeping for an hour. I know you really wanted to see her, but it’s best if she sleeps right now. They’ll take her into surgery tomorrow morning, and she should be done fairly early. She’ll have to stay another day or two after that.”

“It’s ok. I wouldn’t want to wake her now. She’s probably nervous about the surgery, and it would be good for her to rest.”

“Yeah. I think she’s even more nervous about this second one than she was with the first one. She doesn’t like being awake for it.”

“She’s awake for the surgeries?”

“Yes. They freeze the surface of the eye, and do the surgery so that there isn’t the recovery time from anesthetic.”

“I can see how that would make a person really nervous. So if they are doing it that way, why do they need her to stay in the hospital.”

“Normally they wouldn’t, but this is surgery that will give her her eyesight back, and they need to be sure that there won’t be any long term effects from it. That’s why we’re staying in London for so long afterwards too. There will be several checkups once every month for the next year. With this type of surgery, there is also a bigger chance of her having a detached retina too. They want to keep an eye on that as well.”

Ben felt his stomach clench. He was so wrapped up in getting to know Gemma, and if he was being honest with himself, falling in love with her as well, that he hadn’t thought about the fact that Gemma and Alicia wouldn’t be in London forever. They would eventually be going back to Canada. He couldn’t let Gemma go without him. He knew what he needed to do, but he’d have to wait until the surgeries were all done.

“Really. I didn’t know that a detached retina was a possible problem with the surgery. So that is probably why there are so many exams set up for the next while.”

“Yes, it’s important to catch any problems right away. The day after tomorrow she’ll be released if all goes well. Then she’ll have to have anti biotic drops put in her eyes for the next 10 days. She’ll have to wear her sunglasses all the time because her eyes will be really sensitive to light for a while.”

“Well that’s good to know. I’ll have to make sure she wears them all the time. I don’t want her having any problems.”

“No I don’t want to see her having any problems either.”

“I can stay with her if you want to go home and sleep” Ben offered hopefully, knowing he’d be happy to just sit and watch Gemma sleep.

“No that’s fine. I’m not tired. You look really beat though. You should go home and get some sleep. You can use Gemma’s bed”, Alicia offered.

“Thanks. I’ll shower, but I don’t know if I could sleep though. I’ll be too busy thinking about Gemma.”

“Well try to get some sleep anyway. I’ll see you in the morning. Her surgery is at 5 a.m.”

Ben grimaced at that. He didn’t want another early day, but this time it was for Gemma. He nodded, and left.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom stopped by the hospital to sit with Alicia for the night. He didn’t have any filming the next day, so he didn’t have to worry about sleep, and he really wanted to be there for Alicia and Gemma. He knew Ben had gotten home, and had stopped at the hospital. Ben had texted him when he left to go back to the house.

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Ben had gone back to the girl’s flat, showered, and unpacked his small bag. Then sitting on the edge of Gemma’s bed he had set the alarm for 5 a.m. He was so tired that it didn’t occur to him that he needed to be up earlier to get to the hospital before Gemma went into surgery. He crawled into bed, and turned out the light, remembering the last time he was in Gemma’s bed. He smiled, and sighed, and closed his eyes for only a moment, and was fast asleep.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia fell asleep in Tom’s warm arms, her head on his chest, as he softly stroked her hair. His eyes grew heavy, his hand stilled, and soon he was asleep too. Neither would wake until morning.

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A/N: That’s the chapter for this week. Please read and review.


	12. Expectations

Tom and Alicia arrived at the hospital in time to see Gemma being taken out of her room and down the hallway. Alicia walked up to the nurse and said, “I thought her surgery wasn’t going to be for another hour yet.”

The nurse turned and smiled, “They’re just going to take some blood samples and then she’ll be back in the room”, the nurse turned and moved down the hall as well.

Alicia turned to Tom and frowned, “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“The nurse says Gemma is being taken to have some blood samples taken.”

“Yes?”, Tom could tell there was more that hadn’t been said yet.

She gave him a puzzled look, “They always have someone come to the rooms to do that. Besides, they did all this yesterday.”

Tom blinked and frowned too, “Maybe they’re just short of people in the lab right now, and can‘t send anyone to the rooms.”

As he said this they saw a lab tech exit the room across from Gemma’s with her blood collection tray in hand. She saw them and smiled and moved down to the next room.

OK that was odd, Tom thought.

“I’ll just go find her, and see why they chose to take her to the lab instead.”

Alicia nodded, and watched Tom move down the hall in the direction that Gemma had been taken. She moved into Gemma’s room and sat in the chair to wait.

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Tom had some difficulty finding where Gemma had been taken to, but he finally found it. He had just come up to the door when he heard Gemma and the lab tech talking.

“You’re absolutely certain?” Gemma said.

“Yes, there is no doubt.” the tech spoke calmly.

“I see.” Gemma paused for a moment then, “Will it affect my second surgery?”

“No not at all”, the tech reassured her, “Since you’ll be awake for the second procedure as you were with the first one, you won’t be given anything, just freezing the eye. The doctor will be just skipping the relaxation drug. You’ll have to find some way of keeping yourself relaxed for the second procedure.”

A short silence, and then Gemma said, “Alright. Thank you for doing the test for me.” Another pause, and then, “Also I’d like you to not tell anyone about this ok?”

“I will have to tell the doctor, but otherwise I won’t say anything.”

“Good. Thank you again.”

Tom decided to move around a corner so as not to be seen. He could tell the whole conversation was around something monumental. Whatever it was, it was something that Gemma didn’t want anyone to know about. Then a horrid thought occurred to him that had him dropping into a nearby chair. Oh god, had the cancer come back? Is that why Gemma didn’t want anyone to know the results of that test? He could go back to the lab and ask, but then he remembered that Gemma had asked the tech to say nothing to anyone. He would just have to wait and see if Alicia’s cousin would tell.

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Tom and Alicia stood by the windows as people moved in and out of Gemma’s room prepping her for the second surgery. Alicia was frowning, wondering where Ben was. He had said he would be here for Gemma this morning, but it was just about time for her to go into surgery and still no Ben. She looked at Tom, “Can you text him again?”

“I don’t think he’s going to see the text if he hasn’t answered already.”

“Why isn’t he here?”

“Alicia, you have to remember he just got off a plane. He’s suffering jetlag, and it can drop you. You can be so exhausted that nothing will wake you up. It might be better for him if he has a good sleep now, and then comes to see Gemma. We both know he won’t sleep once he’s here.”

“I guess so”, Alicia sounded disappointed.

Truth be told, Tom was a little surprised at his friend not showing. He had made some convenient excuses, but what bothered him more was that Gemma never asked where he was when she discovered this morning that he wasn’t there. Why was she so quiet? She hadn’t said another word about Ben all the time they prepped her. She obviously had things other than the surgery on her mind. He wondered if he had been wrong about them being right for each other. He thought it wise to keep that to himself.

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The sunlight streaming in the window on Ben’s face is what finally woke him. He had been having a wonderful dream about him and Gemma getting married and having babies. It was the happiest he’d ever felt. He lay in bed smiling as the wisps of the dream dissipated and he realized that his phone was buzzing. He sat up and grabbed it off the nightstand, opened and read all the messages Tom had left. His smile disappeared, and he hurriedly looked at the clock. Fuck! He was hours late for Gemma’s surgery. He vaulted out of bed and threw on some clothes and ran out the door.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma was sitting up in bed talking with Alicia. The cousin’s were ecstatic that both surgeries had worked. Gemma had regained her vision in both eyes. That was a wonderful blessing. But Tom saw how often Gemma looked at the clock on the wall. Where was Ben? He was hours late.

His mobile vibrated in his pocket and he quietly stepped from the room to look at the text message. It was from Ben. He sighed and sagged against the doorway with relief. Thank god. Apparently Ben had overslept and was on his way to the hospital now.

Of course, he thought, Ben is always running late. That’s why his agents assigned a PA to keep him on time, but he was always running late when it came to his private life. He shook his head, smiling fondly, and pocketing his mobile he stepped back into the room.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben was shifting in his seat, frantically wishing the taxi driver would hurry more. He was incredibly late, and knew Gemma would have been out of surgery for hours already. He should have just bloody well stayed up all night. At least he would have been there for her.

He felt horrible that he hadn’t been there to see her before or after either of her surgeries. Or at least not that she knew about, unless Alicia had told her cousin that he had been there last night after she fallen asleep. Maybe she had told his lovely angel.

And god why couldn’t this bloody cab move any faster.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma was looking at the clock, and trying not to laugh and shake her head. She and her cousin had had many discussions with Tom about how Ben was always running late. That was why he had a PA assigned to him for formal events. She pushed back the little bit of hurt that he was so very late even for her surgery. She had to remember that it wasn’t intentional.

She had her head turned away from the door and was laughing at something Alicia had said. She saw her cousin look up at the door. Gemma turned her head, feeling like time had suddenly slowed down. There was a tall, slim man standing in her doorway, and he was absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous. He took a step in and smiled, and Gemma melted. My god who was this beautiful man. He had a sexy smile, and bright blue eyes, was tall and slim but she could see toned muscles under the blue button down he was wearing. He had big hands but they were elegant and well manicured. He had a long neck that she found she desperately wanted to kiss and nibble. Her gaze slid all the way down and back up again liking very much what she saw. Her eyes stopped on his full, very kissable lips, then back up to his mesmerizing eyes. Then he spoke in a deep, baritone voice she knew well, “I see the surgeries worked. Do you have full sight back?”

Her eyes widened in surprise, my god this was Ben! Her Ben! Her mouth opened and closed a couple times. All she could get out was, “Beautiful”.

His face flushed, and he dipped his head shyly. Gemma bit her lip. Oh dear god he was so adorable. She held out her hand, “Come sit with me.”

Tom and Alicia took that moment to discreetly leave the room closing the door behind them, hoping to give the lovebirds a chance to talk.

In the room, Ben moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and took Gemma’s hand. He had been worried what she would think of him, but he had seen the heated look she had given him, and knew she was still attracted to him, despite his many flaws. He was glad in a way that her blindness had allowed them to get to know one another first before she saw the flawed man he believed himself to be. 

She hadn’t taken her eyes off him since he walked into the room. He smiled again, and watched her pupils dilate. Yes very definitely still attracted to him. He touched her cheek with his other hand, and leaned in to kiss her.

Gemma was shocked that this achingly gorgeous man loved her. Even with her sight back she didn’t think she was much to look at. His other hand touched her cheek and he leaned in to kiss her. She moaned as they kissed, melting helplessly into his arms. She felt an intense heat sear through her and down between her legs. She leaned back pulling Ben with her, feeling him press her into the bed. She moaned again, feeling the heat build. She wanted him so desperately.

There was a tap at the door, and Ben pulled back in time for the door to open and a cheery nurse to come in, “Time for your drops.”

Gemma quickly got herself together as the nurse approached her bed with a small bottle of antibiotic drops. The nurse rounded the bed, looked at Ben, and her jaw dropped. Clearly she recognized him. She quickly collected herself behind a professional demeanor. When she was done, she left and discreetly closed the door again. They smiled at one another, and giggled.

Tom and Alicia came back into the room to find the lovebirds giggling. They smiled and moved to the bed. Well obviously things were going well. Tom pushed the conversation he’d overheard in the lab earlier in the day to the back of his mind.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Two days later, Gemma was cleared to leave. She was warned to keep her sunglasses on until her eyes could adjust to the sunlight again. Tom and Alicia had told them they would wait for them at the girls’ flat. Gemma was escorted to the doors of the hospital in a wheelchair, and then Ben helped her to stand. She was in a walking cast now, but still moved slowly. It would be another week before she could get rid of the cast altogether. He was glad she was able to walk now, and her sight was a wonderful gift.

“You better put your sunglasses on love”, Ben said. Gemma put them on as Ben put his on too. They smiled at each other, and with hands clasped together, they walked out the doors of the hospital.

Gemma had been looking at Ben and smiling as they passed through the doors, when a sudden flash caught her unaware. She cried out, closing her eyes, hearing the voices of lots of people. Then she felt Ben’s arm around her shoulders, pulling her face to his chest. She could see bright spots prickling in her eyes. He was yelling angrily at the people to stop. The shock worn off, Gemma could hear questions and comments being vaulted at them. Everything from “Is she your new girlfriend?” to “Hey honey is he a great shag?”. Gemma was appalled. She knew the paparazzi could sling some nasty comments just to get a reaction, so she lifted her head to look up at Ben, and said, “Let’s just go.”

Ben stopped, and looked at her, then nodded, and continuing to hold her close, and shading her eyes, they walked through the crowd. Ben had to look down to stop from being blinded by the flashes. They walked slowly and refused to be baited. They got to his car and he helped her in, closed the door, and moved to the driver’s side. When he climbed in, he looked over at Gemma, she smiled, and he started the car. He made them all jump back in surprise when he hit the horn and held it as he drove through them. Then they were turning onto the road, accelerating, and left the paps behind.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Thankfully, there were no more complications in getting back to the house. Ben parked his car in the garage he’d had built in the back.

“Wow you have a beautiful house” Gemma commented looking up at it.

“Thank you”, Ben said.

“It’s the kind of house that should have a family in it.” she mused. She turned and looked at Ben and was surprised to see regret. He hid it quickly, and smiled, “I love this house. I have a garden up on the roof.” He pointed at the just visible railing around the edge of the roof. Gemma looked up and then at Ben and smiled, “You know there’s room in the yard here for a vegetable garden too.”

“I don’t have the time to look after one” he said.

“Would you let me plant one? It’s just about the right time to start.”

“Well I don’t have anything to dig up the ground.”

“I think Alicia and I can take care of that”, she looked back at the house, and murmured, “Definitely big enough for a family.”

She started walking and missed seeing the puzzled look on Ben’s face. He quickly recovered and helped Gemma around and into the house.

Tom and Alicia were waiting inside.

“Thank god” Alicia jumped up and ran to her cousin. Tom caught Ben’s confused look, and said, “It’s already all over the telly.”

Alicia was checking Gemma, making sure her eyesight wasn’t damaged by all the flashes.

“God I was so worried”, the cousin said, “I saw all the flashes and I was scared they’d damaged your sight. I’m glad Ben acted quickly and sheltered your eyes.”

“I was fine” Gemma said, smiling, “I was with Ben.”

She turned and smiled brightly at Ben, and he hugged her to him. 

Alicia saw the deep love in her cousin’s face, and was so happy that they were getting along so well. She thought about the fact the she would have only another two weeks in England before she would have to fly back to Canada for her job, and knew that she and Tom were headed for heartbreak. She desperately wanted to stay and spend more time with Tom, but she was glad that she had time to still be with him. Gemma and Ben would have lots of time still. She hoped with all her heart that Ben would ask Gemma to stay in England with him permanently. They were so right for each other.

The girls went to the kitchen to make some tea, and some lunch. They left the boys in the sitting room to talk.

Tom turned to Ben when the girls left for the kitchen, and said, “Alicia tells me that she’ll have to go back to Canada in two weeks. She has her job there to think of”, Ben nodded, letting his friend continue, “I was wondering if you knew of a job she could get here in London and then she could stay here.” He looked down and back up at Ben, “I love her, and I don’t want to lose her.” He stood, pacing to the stereo, “Long distance relationships don’t work, and I really want this to work with Alicia.” He turned to his friend again, and continued, “You understand, don‘t you?”

Ben’s smile was so wide that he was sure he looked crazy, as he jumped up and gave his friend a hug. Then he stepped back and said, “Well, love is the best reason to make sure she stays.” He smiled, and clapped Tom on the shoulder, “I’ll take care of that right away.” Tom smiled, knowing his friend would do the best he could for them.

Ben grabbed the cordless phone from the end table and wandered down the hall.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The girls were in the kitchen talking as they made tea and lunch.

“You know this is the kind of house that should have a family in it”, Gemma was saying.

Alicia looked at her with a puzzled expression, “Yeah I suppose.”

“It’s definitely big enough for a family, a large family actually.”

Alicia blinked, wondering why her cousin was talking like this. She knew the doctor’s in Canada had told Gemma that the cancer treatments would most likely leave her infertile, unable to have children. Sure she knew that her cousin had never actually been checked for fertility after the cancer was gone, but her cousin‘s sight was more important at the time. She stopped, blinked again …… and then she pieced it all together. The mysterious test that needed to be done in the lab. Gemma must have had a fertility test done. She smiled, hoping that her cousin’s subtle hint meant that she was still fertile. She really, really hoped so.

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	13. Surprises

It was decided to keep Gemma hidden as much as possible. Alicia moved back to the flat with her cousin. Tom didn’t like it, but understood that it was necessary. Alicia and Tom hadn’t been seen with Gemma and Ben that fateful day, so Alicia could go out as much as she wanted. Tom and Ben’s other friends and family were being asked constantly who the pretty redhead was and if she was Ben’s girlfriend. They all maintained a solid front of “No comment”. Poor Ben had the brunt of it though. He was hounded constantly by the paparazzi. He couldn’t do anything, go anywhere. Thankfully they didn’t know where he lived. The people around him were protecting him. His bodyguards were everpresent now. He didn’t tell them who Gemma was, only that she and Alicia were always allowed to see him.

His PA and his agents knew, of course. They needed to know so that they could proceed accordingly. He would eventually let it be public knowledge, just not right now. He wanted to keep his private life out of the media spotlight as much as possible, and he had some things he wanted to do first. He wanted to spend some time with Gemma too. His PA and agents and friends came and went regularly from his house, doing things he couldn’t do himself right now. And, of course, the media was on fire with pictures of him and Gemma. They didn’t know who she was, but it wouldn’t take long for them to find out about her former modelling career.

He figured it was probably the nurse who had come in with the eye drops who had talked, and let the paps know where he was. He had talked to his agents about the best course of action once his fans and the media found out who she was. He wanted to spare Gemma the media firestorm as much as possible for as long as possible.

It was bad enough that they had pictures of them, and they were being splashed all over the telly and the internet. He hated it, but there was no way to stop it. Why couldn’t he just have a private life, but instead here it was being splashed around like it was entertainment. He hadn’t been able to spend time alone with Gemma yet either. They’d made love only once in her bed, and the once in the hospital after her fall down the stairs. He desperately ached to have her in his arms, but there were just too many people around. He didn’t want to wait for this to die down, he wanted her in his arms now. That’s when it occurred to him to have his PA take care of a couple of things for him. She was an absolute marvel. She did everything he needed without anyone noticing.

And so it was, that the night came for his plans to be set in motion. Tom and Alicia had gone out for dinner. During that dinner, Tom would tell Alicia about the arrangements Ben had been able to make giving her a job in London. They would arrange for her to have her permanent citizenship later. This would give them the time they needed to let their relationship blossom.

Next Benedict had made everyone leave his house. He wanted to be alone with Gemma. He smoothed down his suit, checking himself in the mirror. Then he went to the ground floor to get Gemma.

She opened the door, and Ben was struck anew at how amazingly beautiful she was. She was wearing the lilac dress she had worn on their first dinner date together. She was stunning.

“Ready, my sweet?”

“Yes”, she smiled, a little breathless, “I’m ready.”

They moved back up the stairs to Ben’s part of the house. Ben had his dining table set for dinner, and romantic music was playing softly. There was a bottle of wine and glasses set on the table along with silverware, and a single red rose by one of the place settings, and candles were the only lighting in the room. It was incredibly romantic. She smiled as Ben took her hand and lead her to the table, and opened the wine, pouring a glass for each of them. Then he pulled out her chair, and got her seated comfortably. Then he moved to the other chair, and sat.

She picked up the rose, held it to her nose, inhaled the intoxicating scent slowly, closing her eyes, “Mmmm, I love roses.”

Ben smiled as Gemma opened her eyes, and smiled back, saying “Thank you, love.”

Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were twinkling in the candlelight, and Ben found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her. All through dinner, they talked and laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company, but Ben noticed that Gemma hadn’t touched her wine. He was glad that his PA had suggested ice water be put on the table as well. He wondered if she didn’t like the wine he had chosen, or maybe she didn’t feel well. He left that for the time being. He just wanted this night to be perfect for them both.

He cleared away the plates, and then taking Gemma’s hand again led her to the rooftop garden. It was the first time Gemma had seen it, and it was gorgeous. He had tall, thick plants all around the outer edge of the roof, acting as a screen from the other buildings. There were loads of flowers, and other plants too. She saw that there was string lights all over the garden.

“Our special place, just for us, my sweet.”

“It’s beautiful, sweetheart”, she said, testing her chosen endearment for Ben.

He smiled, broadly, and pulled her to him, “I like that” he said, and kissed her softly.

He swallowed back his nervousness and then took her hands in his, and started, “Gemma, the first time I saw you, I knew you were someone special. I spent time getting to know you, and you’re so wonderful and interesting and lovely, and ….. I fell in love with you, and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I think you feel the same way.” 

She nodded, feeling a sudden surge of excitement. Then her eyes widened as Ben went down on one knee before her, “Gemma, please marry me, and make me the happiest man in the world.” He had pulled out a gorgeous ring with sapphires and amethysts set in a heart shape.

Gemma forgot how to breathe for a moment, as he slid the ring onto her finger, then she was wrapping her arms around his shoulders, raining kisses all over his face and neck.

“I love you so much, Ben. Yes, yes, yes, I will marry you.”

Ben hugged her to him, as they both laughed with sheer happiness.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile, Tom was getting the life hugged out of him by Alicia who was overjoyed that he’d gone to the trouble of making sure she could stay on in England indefinitely.

He felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket, and while their dinner plates were being cleared away, he quickly checked it. He smiled, and pocketed his mobile, as the waiter left the room. He slid his arms around Alicia and kissed her slowly and thoroughly. When their lips finally separated, he whispered, “Stay with me tonight, love.”

Alicia smiled, her eyes sparkling, “Yes.”

They left shortly afterwards, heading for Tom’s flat.  
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma spotted a nice padded patio couch, and leading Ben over to it pushed him down to sit on it. Then she straddled his lap, tilted his face up to hers, and slowly kissed him, letting their tongues slide together. His eyes closed as he moaned. His arms slid around her waist as she continued to softly kiss him. She sucked lightly on his bottom lip, then her lips moved along his jaw, and down to the long slender neck she had dreams about. Ben tilted his head back exposing more of his neck for her, gasping when she hummed against his neck. He felt a frisson of pleasure shoot through him and down between his legs, making him hard.

She could hear him breathing heavy and ragged already. She wanted to take all his clothes off and look at him, now that she could see him. She was sure he was gorgeous naked too. Memories of the feel of him the first time they’d made love, had her on her feet, pulling him up too, and leading him downstairs. They went to his bedroom, and then she slowly started undressing him. That was erotic in itself, but this was also the first time she would see him.

She kicked off her low heels as they entered the room. Then she started with his suit jacket, sliding it off his arms, letting it hit the floor. She undid his tie and pulled it off, joining the jacket on the floor. Slowly undoing the buttons of his white button down shirt one at a time, pressing a soft kiss to each inch of exposed skin. She took her time, wanting to savour every bit of him. He stood there, eyes closed, breathing raggedly, letting her undress him, caress him. He was aching with need but didn’t want to hurry her. He felt her soft lips pressing kisses down over his belly to the waistband of his trousers, just below his navel. His skin was on fire, prickling from her touch. Her hands deftly took care of his belt, dropping it on the floor. Then she slowly undid his trousers, sliding them and pants down over his hips and slid them off along with his socks. She bit her bottom lip when his erection was freed from the constricting clothing. 

He was of average length, but definitely wider. No wonder she had ached a little after their first time. She felt herself getting wetter at her centre, and breathing heavily, almost panting. She looked up to see Ben looking down at her. Her fingers stroked teasingly up the inside of his thighs, and she was rewarded with a low moan from above. She stood and walked around behind him, letting her hands trail over his hot skin. Her lips brushed kisses over his shoulders, and across his back, her hands sliding down to that gorgeous arse which she squeezed lightly, playfully.

Then she walked around in front of him, stood a few steps back so he could see all of her, and slowly slid the straps of the silk confection from her shoulders one at a time, holding the front in place. Ben’s heated gaze was all she needed for encouragement. She released the soft material and it slid to her ankles leaving her standing in her silk panties which she slowly pulled over her hips, pooling at her ankles with the dress. She kicked them out of the way, and moved into Ben’s waiting arms, her arms around his neck, one hand sliding into the thick, curly hair. Their lips met in a slow, heated kiss, tongues meeting and sliding together, making them both moan. She pressed against him and moaned at the feel of him, hot and hard, against her belly. His hands stroked slowly over her back and down, making her quiver with pleasure. 

Knowing what she wanted to do, she pulled back, and took his hand leading him to the bed. Once there, she turned him so the back of his legs met the mattress edge, and he slid to the centre of the bed, and lay back. He watched as she crawled across the mattress to straddle his hips. She leaned forward and captured his lips, and his arms slid around her again, stroking over her back and sides. She felt his hot, hard need, and was canting her hips, rubbing her wet, overheating centre against him, making them both moan. His hands slid down to her breasts, caressing, teasing the nipples. She moaned and pressed into his hands. When their lips separated, Ben’s hands slid to her sides, gently guiding her to move up so her breasts were over his face, and then she was gasping and moaning as one nipple was sucked into a hot, wet mouth, and then moved to the other one. He moved back and forth between them until she couldn’t hold back anymore. She pulled back from that maddening mouth and took his lips in a searing kiss.

Then her lips moved to brush over his jaw and along his neck, making him shiver with pleasure. Her hands were stroking over his chest, her lips brushing over his collarbones. Her fingers slid over one nipple making him gasp, her lips moved slowly over his chest as her fingers teased his nipple.

He groaned deep, when he felt a wet heat close over the sensitive bud and suck hard. His hands were twisting the sheets on either side of him as he moaned and writhed with pleasure under her. Her mouth moved to tease the other nipple, sucking hard. Her fingers stroked over his sides to his hips as her luscious mouth followed behind alternating brushing kisses and flicking licks over his hot skin.

She spread his legs with one silky thigh, and moved between them. Her fingers stroked his inner thighs as her mouth moved over his belly and lower. She blew softly across the leaking tip and he shivered with pleasure, his skin prickling. She brushed hot kisses over his hips as one hand caressed his balls. Then warm fingers slid around his throbbing erection, and her tongue caressed the tip, flicking the edges. Her mouth enveloped him, moving up and down his length, sucking hard.

“Oh god, Gemma”, Ben moaned.

She continued pleasuring him until he was beyond words, moaning and writhing helplessly, twisting the sheets in his hands. She was aching for him now, and pulled off him, moving to straddle his hips. She leaned down taking his lips in a white hot kiss, feeling his hands caressing her breasts, making her moan. She pulled back, looking down at his face.

“Ben, look at me”, she whispered.

His eyes opened and met her heated gaze, as her hand moved down to take hold of his leaking erection and guide him into her. They both gasped at the pleasure, and then they were moving together, need taking over. They moved faster, deeper, harder, gasping, watching as pleasure flickered across each others’ faces.

Ben felt her tighten around him, letting out little cries of pleasure, and knew she was close. He watched the pleasure play across her delicate features, then her eyes widened as she came hard, spasming around him. That pushed him over the edge, spilling inside her, both gasping and moaning, as she continued to spasm around him. Finally, Gemma laid down, burying her face in his neck as they caught their breath. Ben held her tight as images of the pleasure playing across her face ran through his mind.

They stayed that way for a while longer, and then Gemma moved to lay beside him, her head on his shoulder. He grabbed the blankets and flipped them over them both, and wrapped his arms around her once again.

“Wow”, Gemma eventually said.

Ben smiled, planting a light kiss on top of her head.

“Remind to propose to you everyday”, he joked.

Gemma giggled, moving to lean on one elbow and look down at him. She looked so happy.

“Ben, you’ve made me the happiest woman in the world”, she said, using his words from earlier. They smiled together, and then she collapsed against him, giggling. He knew in that moment that they would spend the rest of their lives laughing and having fun together. Of course, he thought, it could be the wine too. Then he stopped, frowning, remembering that Gemma hadn’t had any of the wine. There were lots of reasons running through his mind as to why she didn’t have any, but he needed to know for certain. He didn’t want to keep offering her wine if she didn’t like it or some other reason. Then he remembered that she’d had wine when they had dinner the first time with Tom and Alicia at the restaurant.

“Gemma, love”, he started. She pulled back a little to look up at him. “I noticed that you didn’t touch the wine tonight, and I’m wondering why? Are you not feeling well?”

“Oh”, Gemma said, sitting up and crossing her legs. The blankets fell to her waist, leaving her naked to Ben’s eyes. He followed suit, facing her, waiting with trepidation. She reached out and took his hands in hers, “Ben”. She paused, biting her lip, her eyes focused on their joined hands.

Then she opened her mouth, still pausing, licked her lips, and looked up at Ben, “Sweetheart, I’m not sure how to tell you this”.

His stomach clenched. Oh god, what if her cancer is back, he thought, bracing for bad news, he swallowed convulsively.

“I didn’t know until a few days ago”, she held his gaze with steady eyes, “I just wasn’t sure how to tell you this.”

She paused again, looked down at their hands.

“My doctor has also confirmed it”, her eyes moved back to his, “Ben, I …. I’m pregnant.”

He blinked a couples times, absorbing what she’d just said. Then it hit him, she’s pregnant. His face broke into a huge smile, as she smiled too, eyes sparkling, biting her lip.

“Gemma”, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly, “my beautiful angel.” He was ecstatic beyond words, “I love you so much.”

She smiled then, “I’m guessing you’re happy about it”, she giggled.

“Yes, yes”, he pulled back, cupping her face in his hands, “You’ve made me so happy. This is the best news in the world.”

He kissed her softly, pouring all his love into it. When he pulled back, her face was flushed, as she said, “I guess I should have let you find some condoms that night.”

They giggled as they hugged, then she said, “I’m wondering how we’re going to do this. Do we marry quickly before I start showing, or wait until I have the baby and then get married.”

“Hmmm, that’s something we’ll have to decide on fairly quickly I think.” He paused for a moment, calculating, “So you’d be about three weeks?”

“Yes.”

“How long before you’ll start showing?”

“The doctor tells me that it would be about 12 to 16 weeks before I start to show, but with some looser clothes I could hide it for another 2 to 4 weeks.”

Ben nodded his head, then smiled and said, “We should try to sleep, and we can talk about this more tomorrow.”

“Alright”, Gemma agreed as they lay down again, cuddling close.

They lay that way a long time before either fell asleep.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	14. An Announcement

By the time Tom and Alicia arrived at his flat they were breathless from kissing all the way there in the back of the car. They barely got through his flat door before they were in each others arms again, kissing hotly, moaning.

Alicia slid her hands over Tom’s shoulders, pushing his suit jacket off. It hit the floor and his tie followed a moment later. Then Alicia was opening his button down shirt, her fingers stroking over his warm skin. He shivered at her touch, his skin prickling, feeling the familiar zing of pleasure. Once his shirt was open, she peeled it off to join his suit jacket and tie on the floor. 

Tom, desperate to touch Alicia, slid her dress straps from her shoulders, letting the garment slither down her body, his hands immediately moving to caress her breasts. She moaned, pressing into his hands, wanting more. One long arm slid around her again, while his mouth brushed kisses over her hot skin. Then she moaned louder as she felt wet heat envelope and suck on one nipple while long fingers teased the other. She was shuddering with the onslaught of pleasure, her centre getting wet.

When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she pushed him back against the wall and let her fingers and mouth explore his neck and chest, teasing his nipples until he was moaning her name over and over. Her mouth moved lower over his abs while her hands quickly undid his belt and dropped to the floor, followed quickly by his trousers and pants. She pulled off his shoes and socks, and then pushed him back against the wall by his hips. She watched his erection grow as she stroked his thighs, watched as the tip leaked more, her own centre getting wetter too. She wanted him desperately, but wanted him aching for her.

With this thought in mind, her fingers slowly stroked up the inside of his thighs then lightly brushed against his balls. He shivered again, panting with eagerness, with need. Then he felt a hot wetness enveloping each of his balls in turn, sucking gently. His breathing increased more, needing her to move higher. She blew lightly across his wet tip and watched Tom shiver again. Her tongue slid across the slit, and started drawing circles around it, flicking the sensitive edges. He was leaking more with her ministrations, knew he wouldn’t last long. She took his entire length in and took several long sucks from base to tip that had him moaning her name. When she finally pulled off him, he was aching and throbbing, and Alicia wasted no time standing and taking her panties off. She pressed against him feeling his hard length between them, and took his lips in a white hot kiss, his arms sliding around her.

He took her by surprise when he flipped them both around and she was the one with her back against the wall. He reached down and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him, her arms gripping around his shoulders as he pressed her back against the wall again. She could feel his hot hard need against her, desperately needed to feel him inside her. As if he read her thoughts, he lifted her and brought her down again, sliding into her with ease. Alicia gasped and cried out, her inner muscles tightening around him. She cried out, hips canting to meet each thrust, body tingling and on fire. She started feeling the pleasure pool low down. He was thrusting harder and harder, as she felt her inner muscles tighten more and more. She was so close.

“Oh, oh, oh …..”, she cried.

She gasped and then was shuddering and spasming, crying out high and loud, as pleasure crashed over her in a tidal wave. She could hear Tom crying out against her shoulder as his orgasm hit him with just as much force. Tom’s legs were starting to wobble, and he slid down the wall with her arms and legs still wrapped around him until he was on his knees. He was still in her, both still spasming with pleasure and trying to catch their breath. They stayed like that for awhile, and then he pulled out and flopped back to lay on his back on the floor. She layed beside him her head on his chest as they both tried to find the strength to stand and move to the bedroom.

Alicia was half asleep as she felt strong arms pick her up and carry her. Then she felt herself being laid on the bed, and Tom laying beside her and pulling her into his arms. They slept soundly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma woke to the delicious smell of breakfast. She quickly got up, grabbed one of Ben’s robes, which was too long for her, put it on, and lifted the hem and walked to the kitchen. Ben was wearing sleep pants and t-shirt, and was barefoot. She smiled and giggled, Ben turned at the sound, smiling.

“Morning, love”, he said, as he walked over and gave her a hug.

She was sniffing, enjoying the smell of breakfast, “Mmm, that smells delicious. I’m starving.”

Ben smiled, and went back to the counter, put the food on plates, and carried them to the dining room table, and Gemma grabbed two mugs of coffee. They sat and tucked into their breakfast. It was hot and delicious, and Gemma enjoyed it very much. When they took their dishes to the kitchen and were preparing to wash them up, Ben took Gemma’s hands and said, “Love, I’ve been thinking about our wedding, and the baby…..”

Gemma nodded, knowing he had more to say, “I don’t want our baby born out of wedlock. I would like marry before it’s born.”

She smiled, she loved that he was being so open about his feelings.

“I think if we’re going to marry then we should marry before I’m showing too much. I don’t want to be obviously pregnant in the wedding photos.”

“I understand that. We have a little time to make some arrangements and we’ll have to start with an announcement of our engagement and intent to marry.”

“Yes there are a lot of things to arrange in a short time. I will see what I can find for wedding dresses that won’t show my pregnancy.”

“I’ll look after the announcement today. We should probably keep out of the media spotlight for a few days after the announcement comes out. I don’t know how the media and fans will react.”

“I suppose all the girls will hate me, but I love you and I will stand by you no matter what.”

Ben smiled and kissed her cheek.

“I’ll make some calls.”

With that he left and went to his home office to make his calls. Gemma did the dishes, and sat at the table once again to sip at one more cup of coffee. There was a knock at the door, and she got up and went to see who it was, through the peephole she recognized Ben’s PA. She opened the door and smiled at her as she let her in.

“Have you and Ben seen the paper?”

“No, we just finished breakfast and he’s making some calls in the office.”

“You both might want to see this”, Gemma looked at the paper the PA was holding out. She took it and saw the picture of herself on the front. It was from her modelling days. The particular photo they chose to publish was of her in a very skimpy bikini, her name was emblazoned across the top of the page in big black letters. She swallowed, and sat. Damn they would find the raciest possible photo of her available to publish. She had a feeling her fiancee wouldn’t be happy about this.

His PA sat beside her, “Congratulations, by the way.”

Gemma looked at her, then at her ring, “Oh, thank you.”

She sounded overwhelmed. “Hey, we can still counter this”, said the PA.

“Yes I think we can”, came Ben’s voice from the doorway. They both turned at the sound of his voice, and Gemma could see he wasn’t pleased.

He walked over and sat beside Gemma, taking her hands in his, “I’m so sorry about all this love. I didn’t want this to come out this way, but we can make sure the rest happens as we want it to.”

He turned to his PA, “I’ve made arrangements for our engagement announcement to come out in the paper tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’d like to get someone we can trust to write up the whole story of Gemma’s past, truthfully.”

“I’m already on it. I have Janice who is going to do the interview and write up with Gemma. They’ll meet at a quiet little spot we’ve picked out. Then you’ll both stay at your parents house for a few days.”

“Ok” Ben nodded, “We best get started.”

“Oh by the way”, he said to his PA, “Something you should know, but keep quiet for now…..Gemma’s pregnant. I don’t want her hurt by anyone so be sure to have lots of security with her.”

The PA nodded, and hurried out the door to take get things rolling.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I really appreciate everything. I am curious how she knew we were engaged, and how you knew she would know.”

Ben smiled, ducking his head sheepishly, “She helped me get everything arranged for last night with dinner and the lights on the roof.”

Gemma smiled and bit her lip, he was so adorable when he did that she just wanted to pull him into her arms, and hug and kiss him repeatedly.

“For now though, I should get showered and dressed, and let Alicia know what’s happening” she finally said, not wanting to pull herself away from a cute and adorable Ben.

“Alright, and love, I would feel better if she went with you today.”

Gemma nodded, smiled, and kissed Ben, “See you later love.”

She went to his bedroom, grabbed her clothes, and headed down to her flat below. She quickly called Alicia, and told her what was happening. Alicia was ecstatic about the engagement. Of course, the pregnancy wasn’t mentioned yet. Gemma was saving that for when her cousin got home. She was coming back to the flat right away. Gemma showered and got dressed while her cousin was making her way back to the flat.

 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia was squealing with delight and hugging her cousin happily. She had gotten all the details of the previous evenings happenings, and had gasped over the beautiful ring. Then Gemma told her about the interview, and then lastly, told her about the baby. Her cousin was thrilled, and was happy for her and Ben. They talked about the upcoming interview.

Alicia was the one who pointed out that Gemma would have to take off the ring before going because the official announcement hadn’t been made yet. The cousins assumed it would be an official statement from his agents on behalf of Ben and Gemma. She went to her bedroom, took off her ring, and placed it in her jewellery box. She didn’t want to take it off but knew her cousin was right. She didn’t need this coming out before the official announcement.

Meanwhile, Ben was talking to his agents about the media stories. They needed to keep Ben and Gemma out of the public eye for a few days. Ben then talked to his parents, telling them of the forthcoming engagement announcement, and of the baby. They were both overjoyed and thrilled for them. Ben told them he had made arrangements for him and Gemma to fly to Canada to meet her family and formally ask for her hand. Then they would come see them for a few days.

He would have to talk to Gemma about this as well. His PA was making arrangements for a flight for them for that day. He was glad that she didn‘t have any appointments for a few days. Still it would have to be quick because he had commitments he’d put off for far too long. The baby would be kept from the public until Gemma was past the first trimester.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The interview went without a hitch, and the cousins were back at the house without a problem. The security did their job well, knowing now that they were protecting Ben’s soon-to-be wife. Alicia told Tom about the baby, and interview, having told him about the engagement when her cousin had called her that morning. He knew that Ben’s agents would make sure everything was handled. 

Ben talked to Gemma about flying to Canada to meet her family and asking for her hand. She was touched, loved the old-fashioned streak in him. He also told her that their engagement announcement would be in the paper. She was surprised at first, and then understood. He really didn’t do a lot of technology, and this was the proper way to make that announcement. She was happy about that. No press releases, just a quiet announcement in a paper.

Then Ben and Gemma packed for a quick flight to Canada. The story about Gemma came out while they were out of country. It highlighted not just her modelling career, but also her writing career too. They also emphasized the cancer that cut short her modelling career, and that she had won the battle against that, as well as how the treatment had taken her sight, and that she was in London to get the surgery needed to restore her sight. There was also mention of the fact that she and Ben were dating. Ben’s PA had told her she could say that but not mention the engagement or baby.

Gemma’s family loved Ben immediately. They were thrilled about the engagement announcement, and the way it was being done. They were also told about the baby, and their intent to marry before it was born. This pleased her family a great deal. Ben made the call to have the announcement published in the paper.

They flew back and were nestled in at Ben’s parents house when the story of them flying to meet her family hit the paper. It seemed to be agreement amongst all the media that he’d gone to ask her family for her hand.

He was surprised by the great guess. They were both surprised that Gemma’s story was greeted with such adoration for her courage. The following day the media and internet was abuzz with their engagement announcement. Tom was watching the internet, gauging fan reaction. There seemed to be a lot who were genuinely happy for them. They were both surprised and pleased with the outpouring of love and blessings for them both. He couldn’t believe he was so lucky to have such supportive and loving fans.

They held out at Ben’s parents’ house for a couple days until the frenzy had died down a bit. Then it was arranged that they would slip back into London and back to the house. It came off without a hitch which they were all thankful for.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom and Alicia, once again, felt it was necessary to stay apart for a time. They would both be accosted by paps now. Ben and Gemma felt terrible that their life should have to have such an impact on Tom and Alicia’s relationship. They understood, certainly, but it was hard on them too. Gemma spent a lot of time in Ben’s part of the house. Alicia talked with Tom on the phone lots.

After a couple more days, Tom decided to come to the house to see Alicia. They missed each other desperately. He stayed in the flat with Alicia for a few days, being that Gemma had started moving her things up to Ben’s part of the house. Alicia could have the flat as long as she wanted which worked for both her and Tom. They didn’t need their relationship to move quite so fast, and were happy with just dating for a longer period of time.

Tom was quietly planning an outing with Alicia that would certainly get the attention of the paps, but that couldn’t be helped. He was thrilled, in a way, that everyone would soon know that Alicia was his girlfriend. His fans would have to just deal with his new girlfriend, but he knew they’d probably have to hide out for a few days when he eventually proposed to her, as he knew he would. It was just a matter of time.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben and Gemma’s first planned outing together was to be a red carpet event in London for an awards night which Ben was sure to win, and with that in mind Ben had presented, to a very awestruck Gemma, the gown Alicia had loved on Gemma in the Spencer Hart store when they’d been sightseeing. It seemed like ages ago already for the cousins. Alicia, used to shopping for Gemma, found a lovely pair of high heeled shoes to go with the dress, and brought them back for her cousin. Gemma wore them frequently around the house to get used to walking in high heels again. At first she stumbled a lot, and her ankles ached after only a short time. She slowly got better, and her ankles and legs stronger until she could go all day without tiring.

A wedding planner was quickly thrown aside by Ben’s mother who insisted that she must help plan the wedding, Ben’s sister and niece were helping as well. That way Gemma would be free to find a wedding dress and bridemaids dresses. It was intended to alleviate some of the stress of planning a wedding. 

Spencer Hart came forward and offered to make Gemma‘s wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses as well as Ben‘s suit and the suits for his best man and groomsmen. It was explained that there was need for them to be ready fairly quickly and for Gemma’s dress to fit a certain way, and it was not needed to actually be said ‘hide a baby belly’ for him to understand. She really wanted what she termed a princess dress and was talking with the designer about her ideas. He listened closely to her thoughts on that and would come up with a beautiful wedding dress. It would be one-of-a-kind, made just for her. Of course, the bridesmaid dresses would be stunning as well.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The evening of the red carpet event was upon them, and Gemma was nervous beyond belief. Their security was high, to protect Gemma mostly. Ben’s PA had told Gemma about do’s and don’ts with the media watching.

The vehicle arrived, and the two got in and headed off. When they arrived, the media was going crazy for pictures of them together. They walked down the red carpet with their arms around each other’s waist, stopping to pose for pictures. Ben was impressed with his love’s poise. She had, after all, been out of the spotlight for a few years. Everything was going according to plan. They were photographed lots, but not unduly harassed by the media. Ben’s fans were being lovely and he was thrilled that they were so loyal and supportive. He really had the best fans, he thought.

Ben leaned over to Gemma and whispered, “I need to go mingle with my fans.”

She nodded, “I know. Go.” and smiled.

Ben moved to the edge of the red carpet where his screaming, squealing fans were waiting. Gemma watched as he moved along the edge smiling, talking, laughing, taking pictures with fans, signing things they’d brought with them. She could see he loved his fans and his fans loved him. Eventually he came to her side smiling, and happy.

When they were standing around talking afterwards, there was wine and champagne being handed out to everyone. Ben’s PA was quick to grab a wineglass and pour ginger ale in it for Gemma. She got it to her before anyone could hand her wine. It looked like sparkling wine or champagne so no one would be the wiser.

The rest of the evening was a great success, and Ben and Gemma arrived back at the house exhausted but happy. Gemma was thinking that the Ben she saw on the red carpet and interacting with fans was not the Ben she knew away from all that. He was still adorable and sweet, yes, but more guarded. He had handled the media with aplomb although he was certainly wordy. He spent a lot of time answering each question, and at first she wondered about that, but then she realized that the media were limited to a certain amount of his time before they had to let him move on. He was using wordiness to stop them from asking too many questions. She shook her head and smiled, heading to bed for some much needed sleep.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

Ben insisted that Gemma be allowed to sleep late the next morning. He didn’t want her overtired with their baby on the way.

He still had a lot of interviews that he had to do, but most were in London. It had been planned that way because he was getting ready to do a stage production as well as filming for his television show, and really needed to stay in one place to properly rehearse. He also had a surprise of his own he was working on for Gemma.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	15. Danger Again

Benedict left Gemma sleeping in their bed to head out for a long day of rehearsals for his television show. He smiled as he watched her sleeping. He was going to be a father. He was so excited, he couldn’t wait to have their baby in his arms. He closed the bedroom door quietly, and went downstairs to the waiting car.

The closing door woke Gemma, she stretched, smiling. She was so happy. She was engaged to the most wonderful man in the world, and she was pregnant with their child. She lay there thinking about all the stuff she needed to do still for their wedding. She got up, showered, dressed, and ate. It would be a busy day. She got out the lists she had been working on a couple days ago. She remembered that there was some things she had left in the ground floor flat, and went down to talk to Alicia and grab those things.

Alicia was gone to her job, and Tom was probably gone to do his filming. She grabbed the few things she had left and closing the door ascended the stairs to her and Ben’s part of the house. She put the box in the storage room for now. She looked at the clock and figured she’d best get to her appointment. She quickly grabbed her purse and coat and left.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia was missing her cousin desperately. She would call her when she had her lunch break, and see how her appointment went. She smiled, thinking about herself and Tom. He was so wonderful, and she just couldn’t believe that she was dating him. He had mentioned that he wanted to take her out on a date, and she knew that meant that they would almost certainly be seen together. Of course, it might take a little longer for the media to identify her because she didn’t have any kind of public career. She just quietly worked with Gemma, and she liked it that way. She supposed she’d have to get used to a more public role if she was dating Tom. She made a mental note to talk to Gemma about how to handle it. Her cousin would have some good tips for her. She turned her attention back to her lunch.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Gemma had another great checkup, and was happy, practically skipping. She decided she needed to get some groceries before going home. She entered the shop that was close to their home. She stopped to digest that. Their home. It sounded so lovely. She smiled, happy, and went about getting the few things they needed. Eventually she started noticing people staring at her. She realized that she would be recognized from pics of her and Ben when they were leaving the hospital, and the times they were on the red carpet for one of his films. She suddenly felt rather vulnerable and quickly took her items to the front, wanting to get out of there quickly. It felt like the clerk was taking forever to ring her stuff through. She was feeling more and more nervous, chewing her lip and wishing the clerk would just hurry up. Finally she was done, and Gemma quickly paid, grabbing her bags and all but running out of the shop. She didn’t stop until she got home, letting herself in and closing the door. She leaned against it breathing heavily.

She glanced at the door of the ground floor flat and smiled. She would have to remember to talk to Ben about helping Alicia find a great flat close to Tom, but then she thought maybe Tom was already doing that. She smiled, happy for Alicia. She was looking forward to more arranging for the wedding. It was going to be perfect. She ascended the stairs quickly, and as she got to the top of the stairs she saw that the door was slightly ajar. She hesitated, swallowed down her apprehension, because of course it was Ben who left it ajar. He always did that when he was in a hurry. She pushed the door open farther, and walked in.

“Ben?” she called.

The house was quiet. She frowned wondering if she had mistakenly thought she has locked it and hadn’t. She shook her head moving into the room, admonishing herself for not being more observant and careful. She didn’t see the figure sneak up behind her, she only felt a sudden, intense pain that felt like it was splitting her head open, and then she was laying on the floor, unconscious.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia frowned as she hung up the phone. She had tried several times now to reach Gemma on her mobile, but there was no answer. She paused, worried that something unforeseen has happened. She quickly flipped through her contacts list, found Tom’s mobile number and called.

“Hello love.” came the lovely sound of her boyfriend’s voice.

“Hi” she said rather breathless. It didn’t seem to matter how long she’d been with him, he still had that effect on her.

“What’s up, love.”

Alicia shook herself, and said quickly, “I’ve been trying to get hold of Gemma, and she hasn’t answered her phone. I’m getting worried, Tom.”

“Have you called Ben? Maybe he‘s seen her or talked to her. She could even be at the studios with him.”

Of course, she should have thought of that. “I’ll call Ben and see what he has to say.”  
She quickly found Ben’s mobile number and called. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hello, Alicia.”

“Hi Ben. I’m just wondering if you’ve heard from Gemma. I’ve been trying to call her and she hasn’t answered.”

“She has an appointment today. Maybe she’s still there.”

“No I called the office and checked. She left four hours ago. I also called Tom. He hasn’t seen or heard from her either.”

“I’m sure she’s fine, Alicia. She probably just didn’t hear her phone.”

“I don’t know, Ben. I just have a bad feeling about this.”

Ben paused, “Just a minute”, she could hear him talking quietly to someone, then, “Okay, I’ve asked one of my security guys to go around to the house and check on her. OK?”

She sighed, “Thank you, Ben. I’ll feel better when I hear she was just napping or something.”

Ben chuckled, “Alright, I have to go. We’re going to start again.”

“Ok. Bye.”

She hung up, swallowing down her fear. Gemma was probably just napping or hadn’t heard her mobile or something silly like that. They could have a good laugh about it tonight. Pushing down her anxiousness, she turned back to her work.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben was fighting to breathe, felt like he was gasping. His hand holding his mobile to his ear was shaking. There were faces around him, talking, but it sounded muffled, he couldn’t here what they were saying. He felt the mobile taken from his hand, saw someone talking into it. Then suddenly everyone was looking as panicked as he felt. A glass of water was shoved into his hand, helping him hold it to his lips. He sipped, and swallowed, took a few more sips.

He needed to get hold of himself. His Gemma needed him. He closed his eyes, and pushed down the panic, focused on relaxing his body. When he opened his eyes again, it was Martin who was talking to him.

“Hey you okay now?”

He nodded, not trusting himself to talk. “Okay we need to get to the hospital. Can you get up and walk?”

He nodded again, set down the glass, and slowly stood, aware that Martin was watching him closely in case he was unsteady. Surprisingly his legs held him up, and they walked quickly to the waiting vehicle. By the time they reached the hospital he was feeling calmer and more clear headed. His body guards held back the media as he and Martin quickly walked inside. It occurred to him that he should call Alicia as well. He asked if there was a place where he could make a quick call. Once in the room, he quickly dialled Alicia’s mobile. She answered on the first ring.

“Hey Ben.”

She sounded cheerful, almost relaxed. He drew a deep breath.

“Alicia, Gemma’s in the hospital.”

“Oh God. What happened.”

“She must have surprised a burglar again. She was hit over the head pretty hard. She’s unconscious.”

“Oh my god. I’m coming right away.”

“Okay, I’ll have one of my security guys watch for you. There’s a lot of media outside this time.”

“Okay I’ll take a taxi. I should be there in about 20 minutes.”

She jumped up from her desk and went in search of her boss. 

Her boss was truly terrific, he understood her need to go to her cousin’s side and told her to call him and let him know how her cousin was doing. She agreed, and hailed a taxi. Once in the taxi, she called Tom.

“Hello again love. Twice in one day. People will talk.” came the warm voice.

She closed her eyes and swallowed, “Tom, Gemma’s in the hospital.”

“Oh no, what happened.”

“I had called Ben and he sent one of his security guys over to the house. He found Gemma on the floor, unconscious. He thinks she surprised a burglar again. She was hit on the head. I’m on my way there now.”

“Ok love. I’ll talk to the director and I’ll meet you there.”

“Ok…. And Tom?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. She sat back, and tried to stay calm. She was terrified for Gemma. Would the hit on her head make her blind again? Would she lose her baby? She shook her head. No point in worrying about that until they heard what the doctor had to say.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben, Martin, and the security guys moved quickly through the halls to Gemma’s room. When he stepped in and saw Gemma pale and motionless with her head wrapped in bandages, his legs nearly gave out on him. He swallowed back the tears trying to well up inside him, and moved forward.

“Aw good. I’m glad you’re here Mr. Cumberbatch.”

Ben turned at the sound of the doctor’s voice. He smiled, recognizing the doctor who had treated his fiancee the last time.

“Miss Grant, has had a severe blow to the head. The baby seems to be okay, but we’ll do an ultrasound just to be sure. As for her injury, it’s hard to tell if she sustained any lasting damage to her head without x-rays, which we can’t use considering her pregnancy”, the doctor paused, shifting to his other foot, “The blow was near the occipital lobe which is the primary part of the brain for sight.” Ben felt like the air was being crushed out of him, and he sat suddenly in the chair that was thankfully right behind him.

“So she may loose her sight?”

“It’s a possibility we have to consider. We can’t do any scans without hurting her baby, so we can only conjecture what injuries she’s sustained. We will have to wait until she conscious to know for sure.”

Ben nodded, feeling the tears he’d been holding back threatening to well up again. He should have kept a security guy with her. This wouldn’t have happened if he had.

Ben looked at his beloved fiancee, and knew he couldn’t leave her side. He had to stay with her.

“We’ll keep an eye on her and if her condition changes we’ll let you know.”

It was a clear dismissal, but Ben had no intention of going anywhere he was staying with his love.

“I want to stay here. I can’t leave her like this.”

“Very well.” the doctor said.

He left the room, the security guys leaving as well, and closing the door to stand guard outside, leaving only himself and Martin. The other man sat beside him on the chair, “Hey do you want me to stay here with you for awhile?”

He worried what would happen if she didn’t wake within the next day or so. Would that harm the baby? Could she still loose it? He was beset with horrifying thoughts. He started shaking, feeling the tears well up and couldn’t hold them back anymore. Martin pulled him into a hug as hot tears spilled down his cheeks.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Alicia arrived at the hospital and was horrified by the amount of press there. She quietly snuck out of her taxi, and was quickly led into the hospital without much notice. Once inside the doors, she stopped and addressed the security guy.

“Listen, Tom is on his way here and he’s going to need some security to get him past these guys.”

The security guy quickly got on his mobile and called his cohorts upstairs. It was decided that another one of them would come down and help with getting Tom inside.

Tom arrived a few minutes later, and the security guys were there helping him get through the crowd. Once he was past them, Alicia couldn’t hold back any longer and sprinted out the door to greet Tom, not even considering what she was doing. She ran up to Tom who was smiling broadly at her, and wrapped her arms around him. This caused a huge stir with the press who were madly taking photographs of the two of them. All the flashes popping is what finally caught her attention and made her realize what a huge blunder she’d made. She looked up at Tom, horrified. He was smiling lovingly at her. She smiled uncertainly, wondering why he was okay with this. He took her by surprise when he slid his arms around her waist, turned and waved at the press, smiling brightly. Alicia turned too smiling, her arm around him.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Tom and Alicia arrived at Gemma’s room, breathless and pink cheeked, to find Ben and Martin talking quietly. They looked up as the couple entered the room.

“Alicia” Ben got up, not noticing their elation. It was momentary as Ben continued, “the doctor says that the blow to Gemma’s head was near the occipital lobe. It’s the brain center primarily responsible for sight. The doctor doesn’t know how severe the injury is until she wakes up, and they can’t use x-rays because she’s pregnant. He thinks the baby is ok, but they’ll do an ultrasound later to make sure.”

Alicia felt bombarded with information. Ben had been talking so fast that it was hard for her to keep up with what he was saying. Tom wasn’t fazed by this and nodded at Ben, “do you want us to stay?”

Ben seemed unsure until Martin spoke up, “Why don’t you two stay, I should be going. They’ll need me to be back on the set soon. We can film around Ben for now.”

“Alright, I’ll call my director and let him know I’ll be staying here” said Tom.

“No love”, Alicia protested, “I’ll stay here with Ben, you should go back to filming. I’ll let you know if there’s any changes.”

Tom hesitated and then said, “Okay, but I’ll miss you love.”

He leaned over and quickly kissed Alicia. “Bye love.”

Tom left the room, one of Ben’s security following to help him get a taxi without too much grief.

Alicia walked over to the bed, looking down at Gemma. Her head was swathed in gauze. There was bruising on her cheek, she presumed from falling on the floor after being hit. She was so afraid for Gemma. All the waiting and work to get here and have that surgery done to restore her sight, and now it might be taken away. She was vaguely aware that Ben’s mobile rang. She heard the door closing softly, and knew he had gone into the hallway to talk. She sat in the other chair by her cousin’s bed, and bowed her head wishing she could make all the bad things that kept happening to Ben and Gemma stop.

Ben came back into the room, a grim look on his face, and sat. He looked angry, angrier than she had ever seen him before.

Presently, he spoke, “That was the police. They lifted prints from my house and they’re the same as the prints from the first break-in.”

“Oh, they don’t have them yet? I thought they were close to catching them?”

“No. They slipped through their fingers. There have been other similar burglaries in the area, and the prints from those ones match as well. It’s the same guys who seem to be operating in the area. The police have asked NSY to step in.”

“Good. Hopefully they’ll catch these guys quickly.”

Ben just nodded, his lips were pinched together, nostrils flared. He was seriously angry. Alicia hoped the NSY caught up to the burglars before Ben did. She was worried that he would do something foolish. She also thought about the fact that she wouldn’t be able to stay in that downstairs flat by herself again, but she didn’t think Tom would want to keep packing a small bag to stay there with her. She was feeling perplexed. It felt like she was at a crossroads, and she didn’t want to make any wrong decisions. She sat back lost in thought. Ben was lost in thought as well. Neither noticed the time passing by.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


	16. New Beginnings Again

Tom couldn’t concentrate on the filming, he kept thinking about Ben and Gemma, and he was afraid what Ben would do if he caught the guys that did this to his fiancee. He knew Ben had a temper, something the public in general rarely saw, if at all. Ben was fiercely protective of family and those he considered friends. With Gemma hurt and uncertainty about her sight and the fact that she was pregnant with his child just made it so much worse. Ben was outraged and furious he could do almost anything right now. Yes he was afraid for Ben.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben sat fuming for most of the afternoon only realizing he hadn’t eaten at all since breakfast when his stomach rumbled loudly. His concentration on his own thoughts broken, he looked over to see Alicia asleep in the other chair. He thought for a moment, got up, and left the room. He needed to find something for Alicia to eat too, she was probably as hungry as he was. He went in search of food.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben’s rumbling tummy had woken Alicia, but she had started falling back to sleep when she heard the man get up and leave the room. She assumed he would go home and eat. What seemed like a few moments later, she was being gently woken up. She opened her eyes to see Ben with take out containers with soup, a sandwich, and a coffee. She recognized the name of the café as the one she and Tom had eaten at the first time Gemma had been in the hospital. The smell of the food made her realize she was starving. Ben smiled as she woke, and said, “I brought you something to eat”, and handed her the food. She utilized the hospital table in the room for eating the delicious smelling food.

“Thank you” she smiled at Ben.

“Your welcome.”

“Aren’t you going to eat too?”

“I’m going to run home and eat, shower, and change clothes. I need to make some calls as well.”

“Oh, okay.”

“I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

“Alright. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Ben left the room and Alicia dug into the food.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben arrived at the house, and let himself in through the front door. He was glad the reporters had finally left the hospital. He quickly took the stairs two at a time, and when he got to the top he was surprised to see his door ajar. That was odd. He thought the police and NSY would have closed the door after they were done. It occurred to him too that there could still be some of them inside. He sighed. He really hoped he would have missed them. He didn’t want to talk to them again. He just wanted to eat, shower, put on some clean clothes, and get back to the hospital, to Gemma.

He sighed heavily as he pushed the door open and walked in, closing it behind him. He looked around frowning, wondering where the guys were. He listened and couldn’t hear anything.

He shrugged and started heading for the kitchen. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck started prickling, and obeying his instinct he quickly ducked, turned, and swung his fist. He caught the burglar by surprise. Ben hit him square in the stomach, hearing him wheeze as he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The other guy came running at him with a bat. Ben stepped forward, again ducked, and swung his fist. He caught the second guy on the chin, and the guy’s legs wobbled and he crumpled to the floor, out for the count. Ben again turned to the first guy just as he was standing and delivered a hard strike to the man’s neck, knocking him down again. This time the guy stayed down, also out for the count.

He pulled his mobile out of his pocket and quickly dialled the police.

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Alicia was standing by the window looking out over the city lost in thought. She wondered who would do this to Gemma and Ben, and more than once. She just didn’t understand why they’d gone back. Was it to get rid of something that pointed to them that was still there? Was it because they thought Gemma could identify them? Was there something in Ben’s flat that they were after?

“Alicia?” was whispered faintly.

She whipped around and moved quickly to her cousin’s side.

“Gemma! Oh thank god you’re awake”, she said as she grasped her cousin’s hand.

Gemma was blinking her eyes, and trying to stay conscious. She was moving her eyes around, but Alicia couldn’t really tell if her cousin could see or not. She quickly grabbed the call button, and only moments later a nurse came bustling in the door. When she saw that Gemma was awake, she called for the doctor, then came over to the bed.

“How are you doing there?” was all she got out before the doctor came in the door. She moved aside and let the doctor move in to examine Gemma.

She was still groggy and not really understanding all the commotion around her. “Ben?” she called out.

“He’s not here right now”, Alicia answered.

“Can you see anything?” the doctor asked. He was using his little light in Gemma’s eyes, who was becoming more and more alarmed and calling, “Ben?” 

The doctor straightened up, putting the light away in his pocket, and turned to Alicia, “Well her eyes respond to the light, but she’s not really fully conscious to be sure how much she can see. We’ll have to wait until she’s fully awake to make sure. Meanwhile, she needs to rest.”

Alicia looked back to her cousin to see her eyelids were already getting heavy. 

“Ben”, she said softly, as tears spilled across her face. Her eyes closed, and she was out again. Alicia had to choke back tears, the anguish in her cousin’s voice was so deep. She needed to talk to Ben, find out what was taking him so long.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben raced through the dark London streets to get back to Gemma. He had no idea he’d been so long with the police. He cursed as he swerved, narrowly missing a car pulling out, but he didn’t slow down. He needed to get back as quickly as possible. He saw the hospital and felt relief slow trickling through him. He pulled into the lot and quickly parked, practically running to get inside. He bypassed the waiting room where he could just see some people sitting, he didn’t want to be held up. The elevators were busy and he decided to take the stairs, running up them.

He arrived at Gemma’s room, the door was slightly ajar, and the curtain was around Gemma’s bed. He swallowed, his stomach clenching, wondering what had happened. He moved through the door, and walked around to the split in the curtain. He had just moved the curtain open a little when he saw Alicia helping the nurse sponge bath Gemma. He dropped his hand and backed away, moving to the window, and waited while they finished. From the short moment that he had looked, he knew Gemma was still unconscious.

“Ben!” He turned to see Alicia standing outside the curtain.

He smiled and moved to her side, “I am so sorry about taking so long. I encountered the burglars at my house again.” Neither noticed the nurse move the curtain aside, and leave the room. They didn’t notice Gemma was awake and looking at them either.

Alicia’s eyes widened as she gasped, “Oh my god. Are you okay?”

Ben smiled sheepishly, “I am. Can’t say as much for the them.”

“Ben, what did you do?”, she sounded horrified.

“I punched them both”, he said, staring down at his feet, “Knocked them out. Then called the police.”

Alicia was speechless for a moment, then started laughing, relieved. “They tried to attack you too?”

“Yeah, but I stopped them pretty fast.” He shuffled his feet, in that moment looking so young, like a child being scolded. Alicia bit back a smirk and turned her head. Then she spotted Gemma awake and looking at them.

“Gemma!” she ran to her cousin’s side, Ben close behind.

“Hello, love. How are you feeling?” He saw that he didn’t need to ask if she could see because she was looking right at him. She reached out and pulled Ben into a big hug. Ben just managed to keep his balance and not fall on her, returning her hug. He could smell the soap the nurse had used earlier, and he couldn’t help himself. He pressed his lips to her neck, enjoying listening to her gasp. Alicia could see that it was time to leave the lovebirds alone for awhile. She quietly left the room, closing the door tightly behind her.

“Gemma, I was so worried”, Ben was saying between the kisses he was showering on her neck, shoulders, and face. Gemma pulled his lips to hers and kissed him slow and deep, eliciting a delicious moan from him. When she pulled back, his face was flushed, and he was breathing heavily. Gemma loved that she could do that to him.

“Now, Ben, I believe we have a wedding to plan.” He smiled, and took her hands in his.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Meanwhile, out in the corridor Alicia had met with Tom who was coming back after a day of filming. She had quickly filled him in on Ben’s adventures with the burglars, and about Gemma being awake and seeing okay. He felt relief wash through him. He was worried what his friend would do to the burglars, but he had kept his cool and had incapacitated them and called the police.

Watching Alicia as she talked excitedly, he knew he couldn’t live without her. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but he was just seized with this sudden need to do this. He took Alicia’s hands in his, making her look up at him. He watched as her eyes widened in shock as he got down on one knee, and said, “Alicia, I love you so much and I know I can’t live without you. Please say you’ll marry me?”

She stood with her eyes wide and mouth open for a moment, then she was smiling, hugging him, and squealing, “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

He was laughing, returning her hug when Benedict stepped into the hallway to see what the commotion was. He smiled at them both, wondering what had happened. Tom saw Ben standing just outside the door, and smiled, as Alicia kissed his cheek, and zipped past Ben into the room. Tom explained, “I’ve just asked her to marry me?”

Ben smiled about speak, when they both turned at the squealing coming from the room. They laughed, and moved into the room where their loves were waiting for them.

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A/N: This is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


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